


Avengers: Reforged

by MB95



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2020-12-01 23:54:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 62,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20940242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MB95/pseuds/MB95
Summary: Doctor Strange saw the future... Many times- 14 000 605 times. And in only one was The Mad Titan Thanos defeated. However, when the dust settles, Strange realizes that this is not the future he foresaw. With the Time Stone gone, what unknown future will befall the Avengers, Earth's Mightiest Heroes? And the question everyone is asking themselves: Is this universe better?Or worse?Only Time shall tell...





	1. Prologue

** Avengers: Reforged Prologue**

**Earth- 199 621, 2018**

**Infinity War and Endgame spoilers ahead**

**Invaded ** ** _Statesman_ **

Thor, Loki and the dying Heimdall lay amongst the dead and dying Aesir bodies as Thanos and his four Children stood over them, Ebony Maw reciting a preaching speech that sounded well-rehearsed and practised to perfection. Thanos was standing near a large window looking over the destroyed Aesir refugee ship with well-disguised pride hidden under a grim scowl, Thor lying in defeat at his feet. 

The monster leaned down and grabbed Thor's collar before turning to Loki. He began speaking as Ebony Maw finished. "I know what it's like to lose," He ominously began, dragging Thor across the floor. His titanic footsteps shook the very ship with his unprecedented prodigious power.

"To feel so desperately that you're right... yet to fail nonetheless. It's frightening, turns the legs to jelly," Loki knew that not only was the fearsome Titan speaking of his own personal failures but also Loki’s own back in New York six years ago. It made Loki's blood run cold as Thanos tightened his grip on Thor.

"But I ask you, to what end?" He asked powerfully, looking Loki directly in the eyes. The God of Mischief knew he stood no chance in fight nor escape. He couldn't leave Thor as he was, but he definitely could not overpower Thanos. He allowed him to continue, as it was his only card that didn't translate into suicide. "Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same, and now it's here. Or should I say…" 

The giant sneered as he tilted the left side of his body towards his Black Order and raised the same fist. His hand was covered with a shiny, golden metal glove. It was finely crafted and shaped with ornate Aesir patterns, but the most eye-catching features were the six smooth, round convex points at the bottom of each finger, one on a thick, multi-layered thumb-guard and the largest one in the center of the back of the palm, with wing-like decorations spreading from the large socket. The weapon was called 'The Infinity Gauntlet'. It was the only known vessel capable of safely wielding the six omnipotent Infinity Stones, forged from the nigh-indestructible metal Uru from the Aesir forge of Nidavellier.

In fact, the socket of the index finger in the Gauntlet was already loaded with the destructive, violet Power Stone. As Thanos curled his fist in, the Stone began humming and glowing with ominous, droning and foreboding tension. As the Stone's essence emanated, Thanos smiled and finished with,

"I am."

Thor coughed up a small amount of blood, before snarkily but weakly spitting, "You talk too much," Loki smiled slightly at Thor's comment as he ran as tongue along the back of the teeth. Thanos lifted Thor to his knees before bringing the Power Stone to his temple.

"The Tesseract, or your brother's head. I assume you have a preference?" He asked cleverly. Loki smirked before responding, "Oh, I do. Kill away!" He spat callously. Thanos' face flashed with surprise at the god's bitter command but he followed through with his promise. He put the Stone to Thor's head promisingly and vehemently tightened his fist. Like a closed circuit the Stone’s power began to flow as Thor shouted in pain, glowing purple veins surging through his head. Loki quickly began losing his cool composure as his brother roared, which was quickly halted when Loki desperately yet commandingly shouted, "All right, stop!" 

As Thor recovered his breath, he hoarsely commented to Thanos, "We don't have the Tesseract, it was destroyed on Asgard!" Loki looked to Thor guiltily before looking to the floor and raising his right hand. In his up-facing palm, the Tesseract slowly began appearing. As it did, Thor sighed, "You really are the worst, brother,"

Loki began moving towards Thanos as if he were to gift him the Tesseract. As he stepped under the careful eye of the Titan as well as all four of the Black Order he assured Thor, "I assure you brother, the sun will shine on us again,"

Thanos chuckled darkly before callously commenting, "Your faith is misplaced, Asgardian," Loki stopped and smiled before replying, "For one thing… It's pronounced 'Aesir', and for another…" He smiled darkly, as did Thor.

"We have a Hulk." Thanos recoiled somewhat from surprise when The Incredible Hulk charged at him and threw the monster into a wall before roaring deafeningly. Thor shakily sat up with his brother's help as Hulk beat on Thanos. Loki then whispered, “I’m going to distract them all, that’s when you escape-”

"No, we can't leave Hulk," Loki gave him an odd look, before his look shifted to understanding. His brother had connected with the beast back on Sakaar, and Loki realized that since 2012 he had developed not only a very slight fondness for Hulk, he had obtained a very significant sense of admiration for him. The Hulk had also saved all their lives from Hela's brutal wolf, Fenris, and for that Loki owed the monster a heavy debt. 

The two brothers watched as Hulk pinned Thanos to a wall after he got a few good hits in. The Mad Titan sneered before grabbing Hulk's arms and prying them off his shoulders, though with much resistance. He punched Hulk in the jaw with a mighty crack, before punching the monster twice in the abdomen in quick succession. He uppercut him before he grabbed the back of Hulk’s jade neck and cracked his knee into the Hulk’s jaw. Hulk attempted to counterattack but Thanos dodged and punched him in the side.

Thanos then grabbed the Hulk’s arm and _picked him up _with a mighty roar. Finally, he slammed the beast into the metal floor, embedding him a few inches down. Hulk twitched feebly but was out cold. Thor and Loki looked on in sheer disbelief as Thanos stood above what they once believed was an invincible, undefeatable, godlike being, and that being- the Hulk, an adversary who had beaten _everything _easily; Loki, Ultron, Thor himself- was struck down and knocked out in less than twenty-five seconds. 

From Heimdall’s place, they heard him whisper, “Allfathers… Let the dark magic, flow through me… One last… time…” In response to Hulk's loss. A few seconds afterward, a slight rumble began to affect the _ Statesman _. Suddenly, the rainbow light of the Bifrost began rushing through the ship. The light rushed towards the fainted Hulk. Loki, however, joined him with Thor in tow. Ebony Maw used his powers and grabbed Thor from Loki's grasp. The force of the stop made the Tesseract clatter from Loki's other hand.

"Thor-" Loki's cry was cut off as he was taken by the beam before it faded. Thor was suddenly pulled to his knees and wrapped in metal wreckage and was forced to watch helplessly as Thanos approached Heimdall.

"That was a mistake," He commented darkly before he took a glaive from one of his other Children. He lifted the weapon- blade pointed to Heimdall- almost tauntingly, before forcing the weapon down and stabbing Bifrost Guardian in the heart remorselessly. He smiled, and in a sickening show of power, he twisted the weapon in Heimdall's heart before ripping the glaive out. He handed it back to his Child, Thor shouting in desperate rebuttal and sadness as Heimdall died.

"You're going to die... For that!" The God promised despondently. Thanos scoffed through his nose in response as Ebony Maw moved more metal rubble over Thor's mouth and shushed him with a finger. The Tesseract began floating until it reached the palm of Thanos' most loyal Child. Thanos returned to Ebony Maw as the flat-faced being fell to a knee and held up the Tesseract he had reobtained.

"My humble personage… bows before you grandeur. No other being has had the might- nay, the nobility- to wield not one, but two Infinity Stones. The universe lies within your grasp," As he spoke, Thanos removed his gigantic armour. First, he dropped his huge helmet, then he shrugged off his heavy shoulder guards, and then his massive arm plates until only the Gauntlet was left. He then carefully grasped the Tesseract. He held it as if admiring the glowing blue cube before crushing it easily. A small ripple of energy shot out as the cube disintegrated. What was left was dust and fractals around a blue, glowing stone. The Titan blew away the particles and fingered away the shards of glass before carefully placing the Space Stone within the middle finger socket of The Infinity Gauntlet. He sighed deeply as the power entered him, his admittedly incredible muscles tensing with strength. Now, his glove glowed with a purple and blue hue as the monster closed his fist. Now four spots remained for the other stones, but Thor knew that the Avengers on Earth could at least defend their two if Thanos got hold of the others.

"There are two more stones on Earth, my children. Find them and bring them to me on Titan," He commanded. The four beings bowed before Thanos as Proxima Midnight- a horrifying female alien with twisted black horns and mask-like scales on her face- replied humbly with a monotonous, droning voice,

"We will not fail you, Father," Thanos sneered to the immobile God Of Thunder before he promised,

"I will find your brother, and he will pay for his failure," With that, Thanos sent tsunamis of purple flame through what remained of the _ Statesman _as he closed his fist. The scent of flaming flesh singed the air and brutally seared Thor's nose as Thanos activated the Space Stone, opening a black portal rimmed by blue, sparking clouds. The wormhole enveloped the five beings before closing quickly as explosions tinted violet ripped through the ship. Silently, Thor promised revenge on the purple-skinned murderer.

**Sanctum Sanctorum**

Doctor Stephen Strange walked through the Sanctum Sanctorum in unusually casual clothes- a grey hoodie, jeans and running shoes- alongside the red-cloaked Wong. He was about to leave for some food for the both of them.

"Seriously? You don't have any money?" He asked in mild shock. Wong stepped down the steps alongside the Sorcerer Supreme. "Attachment to the material is detachment from the spiritual," He replied mystically, which Strange scoffed at before replying, "I'll tell the guys at the deli. Maybe they'll make you a metaphysical ham-on-rye," He joked. Wong gasped quietly, "Oh, wait wait wait. I think I have two hundred," He corrected, reaching into a pouch on his black leather belt.

"Dollars?" Strange asked wryly. "Rupees," Wong replied. "Which is?" Strange asked quickly. It took Wong a quick moment, but he replied, "Uh, buck and a half," Strange sighed before asking, "What do you want?" Wong rubbed his hands together as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "Well, I wouldn't say no to a tuna melt-" His sentence was cut off by a large object crashing through the glass dome of the Sanctum. Strange's loyal cloak quickly swirled to his back as his everyday clothes mystically formed into his sorcerer garb. Both wizards ignited orange spinning shields, ready to attack whatever just crashed through their ceiling and destroyed their staircase.

As they peered into the hole, they spotted the Hulk- who was midway through transforming into Bruce Banner- and Loki Odinson both whispering,

"Thanos is coming," 

"Who?" Strange asked in confusion.

"Thanos." Loki replied as he looked to Strange, fear set in his eyes.

**Wakanda**

As the Titan entered from the blue and black portal he first saw Bruce Banner leap at him in the one-armed Hulkbuster. He simply raised his fist and activated the Space Stone. He then willed it to spread out his molecules so Banner passed right through the Titan. Thanos kept him in his ghost-like state until he was embedded within the stone wall behind the fading portal.

Thanos turned back to see Bucky Barnes, Falcon and War Machine shooting at him. The bullets only hopelessly bounced off of his clothes and skin with small ripples. He closed his fist with a shake of his head, closing the circuits of the Reality and Space Stones. The Falcon's wings were wrapped into themselves in red ribbons, turning to flimsy, thin rubber. He fell out of the sky as Rhodey's suit was throttled by blue waves. Sparks were thrown from the grey armour before his damaged exoskeleton was loosely tossed onto a rotten fallen log, crumbling like burnt paper. 

Bucky dashed at the Mad Titan firing his machine gun in fury. Thanos scoffed as he threw a heavy wave of energy at the super-human with the Power Stone, throwing him to the ground. He buried Natasha under mossy rocks and trapped Groot under another. Rocket foolishly attempted to tackle him for revenge but was punched to the ground with Thanos' bare right hand. Steve Rogers slid under his fist and the black, diamond-shaped Wakandan shield attached to his right hand retracted into itself as he punched the Titan's gut. The surface was tough and unflinching, almost like punching a brick wall with blankets over it. It was resistant, but not painfully so. Steve then followed his first strike with a shield-handed left uppercut. Thanos recoiled from the hit, but only slightly. The purple giant attempted to counter-attack with an unpowered Gauntlet punch, only for Steve to catch it and hold it open.

Thanos stared in plain and honest disbelief and shock, legitimately impressed as a human held the Gauntlet steady. The Captain roared as he held the glove back, his arms bulging with strength and shivering with pressure. The moment was brutally cut short as Thanos punched Rogers out cold with a right-handed strike. He looked up to see Okoye, Black Panther, Shuri and Loki storming him

As Wanda Maximoff watched her team- her _family,_ the only family she had ever known since Pietro had died three years ago- get pitifully ripped apart by this monster, she felt Vision's hand return to her arm in desperation. She turned back quickly, tears beginning to sting the corners of her eyes and blur the bottom of her eyesight as Vision's blue-steel mechanical eyes looked into her own wide, brown, wet orbs. He slowly raised her right hand to the amber gem in his forehead while he whispered,

"Wanda, it's time," She shook her head as larger tears built up in her eyes, threatening to fall upon her beautiful pale face. She shook her head vehemently, her lips quivering and despondently attempting to contain her cries, failing depressingly quickly as her breathy, quiet sobs slowly left her luscious pink soft lips. Vision nodded noiselessly as Wanda's scarlet energy moved from her shaking fingertips. The energy trickled along before it delicately caressed and embraced Vision's Stone, causing him to sigh contentedly yet with surprise in such a manner it was almost esoteric for only Wanda's own ears. She began crying more throatily when she brought her left hand up, now two beams of her red mental projections wrapping the Mind Stone and tossing soft crimson blades from the two main beams.

When Thanos threw Wakanda's King into a boulder and punched Loki into a tree with much more force than was necessary to incapacitate him, Wanda turned back to see him now approaching her slowly. She put all of her desperate energy into Vision, his breath increasing in frequency as the essence of his lover embraced the deepest elements of his artificial existence. Thanos had now gotten too close for her liking. 

She began forcefully reutilizing the energy of her left hand towards him as he created a protective shield from the Power and Space Stones. He was pushed back from the unrelenting force of Wanda's flaming effort, but as he pushed against her scarlet beams he began to advance slowly, much to her panic. She turned back to her android lover, her tears now viciously running down her face as Wanda painfully put all of her power into breaking his mind. Seeing Vision sit in such complacency and tranquillity as he was being destroyed made Wanda want to stop the universe and bring them both back to their hotel in Edinburgh, climb back into bed and stray into a shared dream of peace and unpreturbitity, where they would live together somewhere deep within a mountain cabin and have only each other to supplant themselves.

But it then that Wanda was brought back to the painful, heartbreaking reality that was forcing her to end the man she loved by a lowly whimper. Over the hum of her power, the bleak crackling of the Stones and her own depressing sobbing Vision whispered,

"I love you, Wanda…" That was all the push that Wanda needed to cause the Stone to crack bluntly. It cracked again and again before golden shards flew out of the robot's forehead and an explosion enveloped his body. It sent Wanda back several meters, severing her resistance against the monster Thanos. She ended up at his feet, crying wholeheartedly. Thanos slowly reached down and kneeled in front of Wanda, putting his right hand gently onto her head and stroking her chestnut hair lightly. She looked up in venomous hatred. He grimaced at her expression before standing again. He raised the Gauntlet and closed his fist slowly. The Time Stone resting on a thumb plate began glowing as emerald-green latticework glowed around the glove. He turned his arm, and the explosion that had ruptured from the android began reversing. Wanda watched in sheer and utter defeat as her lover reformed.

Thanos wasted no time grabbing Vision by the neck with his left hand and ruthlessly ripping out the Stone with his bare right. The body in Thanos' giant hand went colourless and limp before he tossed it carelessly to the witch behind him. He carefully placed the amber gem within the largest socket of his Gauntlet. With that, he had obtained them all- Power, Space, Reality, Soul, Time and Mind. The power caused Thanos the thrust his chest to the sky as he roared. Electricity of all six colours surged up his arm, burning his flesh ever so lightly. Slowly, the sparks dissipated until he was left to admire his work. That was... 

Until a gigantic thunderbolt hit him and sent him skidding back. Thor emerged from the source, his eyes glowing vindictively as he threw his beautiful axe towards his adversary. Thanos powerfully aimed the Gauntlet towards the twirling weapon, but the powerful beam only created a rainbow flare as Stormbreaker soared towards him. The weapon became closer and closer without slowing down. It nearly made contact with the Gauntlet before-

**Crack.**

Thanos fell to a knee with a brief, white flash of light as Thor’s new weapon stuck out of his heart. Thor landed in front of the handle as Loki came up beside him, bloody and bruised. Thor pushed the blade further into Thanos’ chest and Loki vengefully plunged a thin, small, silver, ornate dagger into Thanos’ large, veiny neck, being sure to avoid anything critical to ensure the monster suffered, even when he was so close.

“I told you, you would die for that,” Thor whispered venomously, twisting Stormbreaker from within the wound. Thanos cried out and toppled weakly. After a moment of ragged breathing, he rested his right hand on Thor's chest and whispered threateningly,

“You shou… You should have…” The two Aesir brothers laughed as the Titan struggled to speak. They looked him in the eyes callously when he managed to look up in anger. As Loki twisted his small dagger in its wound he brutally gripped Thanos' thick jaw in his thin hand and brought the monster's ear to his mouth as he vehemently whispered, "You will never be… A God," He released Thanos' head, allowing Thor to stare into Thano's eyes with a fiery hatred.

“You should have…" Thanos continued to struggle until his brow slowly furrowed, his nose wrinkled and his entire face contorted in rage and determination. 

"You should have gone for the head.” Thor and Loki’s faces morphed in confusion until Thanos raised his gauntlet slowly, his fingers ready to snap. Thor reached out and yelled “NO!” As Thanos slammed his middle finger across his thumb and into his palm within a blink. A white flash emerged from the six orbs, blanketing Wakanda briefly in crystalline silence. 

"What'd you do?" Thor shouted when the light lifted, the Gauntlet smoking and melted, the Stones dully sitting in their destroyed sockets. As Thanos looked to his scarred arm confusedly Thor yelled again, “What’d you do!” Thanos shook his head slightly before bringing up his fist and pulling himself back through a black-cloud-rimmed blue portal and disappeared. Loki’s small dagger and Thor’s weapon clattered to the ground, the blades wet with Thanos’ fresh red-violet blood. Loki swallowed before staggering.

Loki coughed lightly. “Brother?” Thor looked to Loki before he toppled into his arms. Loki stuttered with fear as his fingers began to evaporate in grey dust. Loki looked to his stronger brother in fear. “Thor, what’s happening? Thor, help me…” Loki was grabbing desperately at Thor’s arms. “Thor, please… I’m sorry… For everything...” His speech was slowly cut off as the rest of him evaporated into dust with a lime green puff of light. Thor stayed on his knees and stared at his clean hands where Loki had just been.

“Loki?” Thor whispered pitifully, on the verge of tears. A single tear fell from his uncovered eye, and his lip quivered as he shakily picked up took hold of Loki’s light, silver dagger from the ragged ground. He looked at it and cherished the small weapon as he tightened his grip, completely unaware of the small amount of blood leaking from his hand.

“Loki… I love you."

**San Francisco**

Eddie Brock was reading a small magazine with his alien symbiote pet friend Venom materialized over his shoulder in a snake-like manner. Venom suddenly perked up, catching Eddie’s attention. 

“You okay, Vee?” He asked as Venom began looking around anxiously. Venom shook his head no, before looking Eddie in the eyes. His usually smart and happy white eyes were sad, desperate and scared. All of a sudden, Venom slowly evaporated into colourless dust without so much as a word. Eddie jumped back in surprise before laughing heartily yet somewhat anxiously after a moment. “Okay, y’got me Vee. Funny,” Venom wasn’t really the type to pull such a vicious joke- especially after the scare they had a few months ago with Riot- another symbiote who wanted to destroy Earth.

Venom didn’t rematerialize or respond inside Eddie’s head at all. In fact, Eddie began to feel empty, like if Venom had left. He laughed shakily, before standing to see if Venom had left onto the couch. The couch was Venom-less, only the imprint of his own body left.

“Venom?” Eddie called out, now searching for his friend, desperately trying to find any trace of the alien.

"Venom!"

**Five**

**Years**

**Later...**

**Gamma Lab**

Bruce Banner stood in a white and chrome gamma lab behind a thick sheet of plastic glass. Several scientists stood on the other side operating complicated machinery and sensitive equipment, panels glowing with buttons and coated with knobs, levers and switches. Bruce smiled from within the contained room before channeling his own internal Tony Stark.

"You all signed the waiver, right?" His quip received no accolades nor even a pity chuckle. However, one of the scientists- an older man with a thin, knowing face and grey hair that was resting naturally slicked back from years of permanence approached the glass. On the top of his head was darker more bountiful grey hair but on the sides of his head the shade fell more within a silver range. His face was guarded by bronze-coloured wire sunglasses with dark lenses straight from the mid-seventies and a white mustache clinging upon his upper lip. He spoke, his aged voice scratched with elded experience and knowing wisdom yet still warmed with kindness and care.

"Okay Bruce, just sit back in the chair and let us take care of the rest," The man smiled warmly and nodded, as did Bruce. He took a mouthguard from a nearby table and bit down on it. He settled into the gigantic chair, not unlike a dentist's. One of the scientists exited their secure room and entered Banner's, doing up several thick metal straps. Two across each arm, each leg, three thick ones around his torso and one around his neck. A large machine descended onto his head as the scientist left the room. Two rounded arms clamped down onto either side of his head from the machine above. He sighed deeply as two large boxes descended and threaded through the large holes in the side of the clamps. Green lights lit from a small point, directed parallel to each other. They were aimed almost directly in the center of where his brain rested.

Another scientist spoke up as the two boxes whirred in a high tone, reminding the contained Banner exactly of Iron Man's repulsors. "Alright, initiating Gamma Pulse Phase Three, Test thirteen. Gamma Pulse energy signature has been raised over oh-point-three-percent since test twelve. Taking place at…" The doctor pulled out a gold-coloured pocket-watch attached to a silver chain. He looked at the watch before stating, "Thirteen-forty-five. Initiate gamma-based hypothalamus stimulation state one on my mark. Five, four, three, two…" He hit a small button on the desk below him alongside all the other scientists in unison as he finished,

"Mark." A high-pitched pop was heard as pure gamma energy was sent from one box, through Bruce's brain and straight through to the other. Banner's hands began to feel sweaty and fidgety ever so slightly. A woman spoke up from behind their clear protection.

"CRH, ACTH and cortisol levels spiking," The head scientist smiled before repeating, "Re-engage gamma-based hypothalamus stimulation state two on my mark. Three, two… Mark." They all pressed a button above the ones they pressed during state one. Another, rougher pop echoed as the same energy boomeranged back to the first box. Banner glued his eyes shut in response, but gave the doctors a sign he was alright. Now his body was working overtime, ready to fight or flight to the highest degree Banner had felt on his own since the accident.

"Doctor, another spike. More than double the last," Finally, the head doctor flipped up a plastic case and gently flicked a red switch. The whir from earlier returned as he announced, "Re-engage gamma-based hypothalamus stimulation, final state. Three… Two… Mark." All the scientists pressed green buttons simultaneously. The pop- now sounding more like a gunshot- echoed a final time. Bruce recoiled from the shock he felt as the woman announced the new levels, or...

"Doctor, levels are unchanging. No change from state two," Lack thereof. The lead scientist peered over to her screen and indeed, the levels remained unchanged. He looked back to Bruce only to see him unconscious within the seat.

"Doctor Banner?" Banner didn't give a signal, nor move nor did he even blink. "Banner?" He asked again. No response. "Something's wrong."

\---

Bruce shot awake, straight as a board. He was not within the gamma lab, he was in a dark void. He was dressed the same as he had been- a white tank top and black shorts and there were red marks across his body from the restraints, yet the heavy chair, the clamps, the boxes and the scientists had all disappeared and dissipated into the shadows of his current confinement. He turned and looked around, spying nothing but more inky dark. That was, until his eyes fell onto a massive hunched figure. The mass was bent over something, its back facing Banner. Bruce only came up to the middle of its huge shoulders. 

It was then that the realization struck him. The giant figure in the void was… The Hulk. He was hunched over, holding his head, almost like he had a migraine. As Banner approached, Hulk growled lowly,

"Leave me alone." It wasn't towards him, it was more like what Hulk said when he was warding off one of Wanda's accidental mind tricks. Banner reached out towards his alter ego Bruce whispered, "Hulk?" The Big Guy's head snapped to the voice, and slowly he began turning and rising. As he rose to his full height, Banner began to see the Hulk better. He looked… Tired, stressed, like he hadn't slept in days. He looked weak and frail, despite his muscular frame.

"Hulk, are you… What's wrong with you?" Hulk reached out to Banner wordlessly, his fingers outstretched towards him. Banner raised his hand parallel, reaching out towards the gigantic green fingers. Just as their fingertips were about to make contact, a sudden green panel rippled from their contact. Both Bruce and Hulk shrunk away from the shield, more in surprise than in actual pain. "What the hell…" Banner ran his hand along the pane of green which threw off ripples, almost like a wave of emerald water. 

"Shield…" Hulk growled. "It's a shield," Bruce recoiled even more at _that_. Hulk- the Avenger who was all brawn, no brains- had just put together a coherent sentence. "It's not mine. Is this you, Banner?" Bruce was left speechless. Hulk stared at him, waiting for his response. After a slow, confused moment or two he roared shortly which brought Banner out of his shock _ real _ quick. He shook his head and, in a state of sheer disbelief asked Hulk,

"Um, since when can you…", Banner trailed off as his mind put it together. Their minds were bridging, and they were becoming more alike. The wall still barriered them, preventing them from truly sharing a mind. "Okay. If we're bridging ourselves, we gotta take down this barrier…" Hulk nodded absentmindedly from the other side.

It was then that Bruce remembered everything that had happened over the last twelve years. General Ross, the experiments, Betty, Blonsky, New York, the Chitauri, Ultron, Sakaar, Thanos. The whole time Hulk existed, he was hated. Not only by the US government but by all of humanity, and especially by Bruce himself. He felt the sudden news to apologize, feeling responsible for Hulk's bitter hate for everything.

"Hulk… I'm sorry. About everything. About hating you, not trusting you… You're a part of me, and I've been trying to… Kill you. I'm sorry, Hulk," Hulk looked up from the barrier with a look of modest yet honest surprise. He looked down as he considered Banner's words truthfully. He growled in acceptance before he looked back up.

"Hulk sorry too, Banner. For not communicating, for making things worse. Hulk sorry," Bruce smiled in response at Hulk's apology. He nodded as he looked to his alter ego and smiled. Hulk returned the gesture but slowly looked to the shield angrily. He limply hit the barrier sending flutters across the green surface. Hulk growled angrily as he wound up a harder punch. Larger waves cycled through the barrier, but it still resisted. 

Now Hulk was _angry_. He stepped back before roaring and charging the barrier. As the beast hit it, Banner backed to the side. However, despite Hulk's power, the shield resisted. It flung him back, but he managed to land on his feet. He growled deeply in ruthless animosity, but Banner stopped him before he charged again.

"Wait, wait, I think I got something. This barrier is super resistant to your punches, but what about sonic waves?" Hulk looked to Banner in consideration, then looked down at his hands. He looked up and smiled evilly. Banner stood back from the endless barrier. Hulk took a steady stance with his thick legs as far apart as his humongous shoulders. He bent at the knees and bent forwards. He brought his arms out to his sides before cruelly slamming his open palms together.

The sonic eruption was harsher than any other his "super-clap" had generated in the past. The sound echoes throughout the odd zone the two beings found themselves within. The barrier began shaking as Hulk's sonic reverberations shook it. It began shaking too harshly when it suddenly shattered into dust. Banner used his body to protect his face from the floating fractals carried quickly through the air and clapped his hands to his ears to defend from the vicious, ruthless sound echoing throughout the endless inky void of the pair's minds. As the shards and dust settled and disappeared Hulk approached Banner. It wasn't at all dissimilar to twelve years ago when Emil Blonsky so arrogantly stood in front of the green mountain and challenged him with, "Is that all you got?"

Except this time, Hulk offered his gigantic hand to Banner. He took it and shook, his strength barely moving one of the green fingers. Hulk smiled before a glowing green orb descended from above. Both parties backed away before Hulk's reflexes spasmed back into existence and he grabbed it. Everything Bruce saw went white.

\---

"Sir! All levels spiking! Oh my god, these should be impossible!" The statistics were literally off the chart and _rising _as the doctors worked. They all looked back to Bruce, who was fighting hard against the metal straps. His eyes were glowing- literally _glowing _\- lime green. He spat out the mouthguard as his body suddenly began violently morphing. His legs were stretching out and growing longer as were his arms. His once small shoulders were growing and inflating, and the doctor's entire body began taking on an olive tint.

"Shit!" One of the doctors shouted as he lifted a plastic box attached to hinges. Under it was a red-and-yellow emergency button. He slammed it down and an alarm began sounding, as well as every speaker in the lab blasting, "Emergency. Evacuate immediately," Again and again on a loop. Banner roared in the midst of his transformation. The muscles of his arms were bulging against the restraints before snapping, spewing sharp metal fragments away as his right arm broke through. He used his weight to break out his left and the movement caused the leg restraints to break at the same time. 

Hulk roared in anger as he tried to pull his neck away, breaking another bar as well as breaking the two boxes and their clamps. In rage Hulk tore open the straps over his torso, standing from the seat. His body wasn’t yet at full size, he was being restrained by… something. Hulk tried harder to emerge from Banner, and as he put more and more effort into emerging he felt his own consciousness press against another. It wasn’t Banner’s- it wasn’t even _human_. As he continued pressing, Hulk felt the resistance shift somewhat. He forced the other mind more, before suddenly the block left. Hulk quickly emerged with a fragmented roar, growing large fast. A physical mass flew from Hulk’s chest and slammed into the glass of the facility before collapsing to the floor. Hulk approached it with a growl before the mass suddenly moved and held up a hand.

“Wait, wait!” Loki laid on the floor before the Hulk, a look of weak desperation in his usually sly and powerful eyes. Hulk looked to the God in confusion. He looked to his muscular chest before returning his gaze to Loki. The God of Mischief understood the rather silent question, "When I died five years ago, I used the last of my energy to implant myself into you, Hulk. I hope you don't mind," Hulk looked to Loki curiously, studying his face. He was unhealthily pale, dark bags hanging under his eyes. He was shuddering with weakness and his eyes showed fear. Fear of Hulk was a part of it, but it was mostly fear of Thanos Hulk could tell.

"Thanos is dead, Loki," The God sighed in relief as his arm fell to his side, unable to be supported. He then settled into his place weakly, attempting to catch his fleeting breath. Hulk nodded slowly and turned to the other side of the room. He looked up into one of the fluorescent lights before he slowly crouched down and launched himself through the roof. 

Hulk landed on top of the building, staring at the giant moon above him. He brought his fists out and bent back, his face to the skies. He released a godlike roar, his unearthly power shaking the very planet below him. As his tremendous sound rang throughout the galaxy, every threat, Hell, every world now knew...

The Incredible Hulk was back.

\---

As Scott Lang wheeled his wagon of sparse belongings from the storage cell through the emptied street, the quiet strangled him with worry. Suddenly, a redheaded teenager passed him on a dusty bicycle.

"Hey kid, what the Hell happened here?" Scott asked slowly. The boy stopped and looked back to him in somber silence. His face dropped, but he said nothing as he turned back and continued. Scott was left alone with his wagon as the silence fell again. He continued on for perhaps another five minutes before he approached a clearing he could have sworn wasn't there when he had last traversed this street. There were tens, possibly hundreds of finely cut beige stone pillars rising from neat concrete walkways which also contained sparse benches of the same grey colour.

A few people were milling about slowly and silently, reading the pillars. Scott slowly made his way to the first pillar, reading with engraving with a raised eyebrow. It read 'THE VANISHED', with several names, seemingly randomly listed neatly three-by. He recognized none of the names but began to rushedly read through them, desperately searching for his daughter's name. The rest of the world evaporated as he ran through the names. He vaguely recalled pushing a couple out of the way as he scoured the pillars. He came to a stop as he read four names, none of which read 'CASSANDRA LANG', thankfully. However, he was just as devastated as he read, in order, 'HANK PYM', 'JANET VAN DYNE', 'HOPE VAN DYNE', and…

"What?" He asked no one in particular as he read… 'SCOTT LANG'? What exactly were these memorials for? Were these people dead- Was Hope Van Dyne dead? No, no she couldn't be. She had been alive not five hours ago. What was happening? Scott realized it would take all day to find Cassie's name- if it was here at all- and he quickly took off towards his house faster than he ever had before.

As he left, a very few people had gathered around a man who was hitting one of the pillars with a hammer and metal tent stake. It wasn't an uncommon thing for someone to add another name to the memorials, judging from how many etched names were set in the stone. Still, the few gathered as the depressed man worked. He was somewhat short- not too short, but still a little, perhaps five-foot-nine- and had a rough unshaven beard that had obviously been growing over the past five years with little interference. His clothes were old and dirty, obviously from the man's depression. He etched the name slowly, oblivious to the people watching him. The tool clinked harshly yet calmly as miniscule chips of beige rock clattered against the cement. The man was finishing his job, fixing up some of the rougher edges.

He took the stake away from the sharp, jagged indentations and blew all the particulates out of the deep marks. His lip quivered as he read over his work, but he quickly put his tools into the conjoined pocket of his sweater and walked away, sniffing back tears with deep breaths. The few people who had watched him work looked to the name he had left, reading the etched- rather odd- name.

'VENOM BROCK'

\---

As Scott approached his house, he subconsciously noticed the surprising amount of upkeep, which told him that it was being lived in. He ran up the steps and tried the handle. The door was locked, so he reached for his keys. They jingled as he jammed them into the lock. They didn't fit, which surprised him greatly. He knocked on the door, wondering who lived in his house. It clearly had been longer than five hours.

Someone spoke from inside, which he deciphered as 'Coming!' A young teenage girl answered the door. She had a purple long-sleeve shirt, light jeans and a soft, gentle face that reminded him of Hope. But, her eyes looked like…

"Peanut?" Scott asked. His voice was hardly above a whisper. The girl's face dropped as she recognized Scott as well as the nickname. She began crying as she asked,

"Daddy?!" She threw her arms around Scott's neck and hugged him tightly. She was sobbing with joy as Scott stood in stunned silence. His daughter was very much alive, yet she was now a teenager- a mid-teen by his estimate. Scott separated from Cassie and looked at her teenaged face. 

“You’re- you’re so big!” Cassie laughed quietly before she reembraced her father.

**Avengers Facility**

What remained of the Avengers- Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Thor Odinson, James Rhodes, Scott Lang, Rocket Raccoon and Nebula- now stood atop a hyper-advanced quantum tunnel, with Loki Odinson stood nearby and a human Bruce Banner working the portal controls. All those that were going Quantum wore matching suits, white and red plastic with varying helmets. Rhodey and Tony's suits were somewhat different from the rest, as their suits were modified to be almost identical to their usual suits- Rhodey’s was bulkier and equipped with heavy weaponry and an Iron-Man helmet, as was Tony’s but without the visible artillery. They both had white-glowing arc reactors embedded in the chests of the suits. The others’ helmets were recreations of Scott’s Ant-Man helmet with the difference of one giant red visor instead of two red eyepieces. Scott wore a design of his usual helmet, however, it was recoloured to match the Quantum suits.

“See you in a minute,” Natasha whispered to Bruce, who quickly jogged onto the platform after setting up the portal. Thor and Loki nodded to each other solemnly and Steve looked at a worn, fading red five-point metal star in his hand. A second later, they all disappeared, leaving Loki alone in the facility. Visions were overtaken by a swirling blue wormhole as the remaining Avengers travelled through time and space. They all parted ways in three groups as branches came up- Tony, Steve and Scott in one towards 2012 Manhattan Island, New York for the Space, Time and Mind Stones. Thor and Rocket headed into a second path as they raced to Asgard, 2013 for the Reality Stone- or the Aether as it was as the time they were headed. Rhodey, Nebula, Natasha and Clint kept on the main path as they traveled to 2014 Vormir in search of the Soul Stone and 2014 Morag for the Power Stone. When they reached the end of their path, Clint enlarged the miniature spaceship within his hand, and suddenly the four were seated in it.

\---

Natasha carefully landed the ship onto the sandy surface of Vormir. In the vast distance, jagged mountains pierced the purple and red sky, reflected perfectly in the countless, perfectly still pools of water. The land was dark, the planet's sun blotted out in an eternal eclipse. Nearby where they landed, there was a slow-incline mountain with rough-carved steps leading up to two tall pillars scraping the sky.

"Wow… Under different circumstances, this place would be awesome," Natasha smiled at his comment despite the immense dread that she knew hung over both their shoulders. They began up the long, foreboding walk of the mountain. It was twenty or twenty-five minutes before they reached the top. Despite both of their records, the height was brutal and both were slightly out of breath.

"Bet the raccoon didn't have to climb a mountain," Natasha sighed as she attempted to regain the breath she had lost. Her red-to-blonde hair fell over her shoulder, strands of her flaming gold hair sprouting loose from her braid. Clint laughed dryly at her remark before correcting her with,

"Y'know, technically I don't think he's a raccoon," Romanoff sighed heavily at his correction. She looked up to him before replying, "Whatever, he eats garbage," Clint laughed at her comment dryly before a hooded figure appeared before them. His cloak was material until it flowed to the rocky ground, evaporating to thick shadows as it brushed the dirt. The smoke swirled as the figure turned to meet the two. His face was skeletal, with two sharp ridged holes in place of a nose. However, his face was a faded red instead of the yellowed-white of usual bone. They both stared in shock, however, the figure did not react.

"Welcome. Natasha, daughter of Ivan. Clint, son of Edith." The voice echoed seemingly from all around them yet only inside their heads. It was soft, raspy, almost like he was ancient. Natasha was taken aback from the spirit's knowledge, asking him,

"Who are you?" The question was simple, yet the figure scoffed and looked down in contemplation, it seemed. The words seemed to be hard to find as the ghost looked to Natasha again. "Consider me a… Guide. To you, and all those who seek the Soul Stone," He replied finally. Natasha released a breath of relief when she realized they could have some knowledge and help of where this ever-elusive Stone laid.

"Oh thank god, you can show us where the Stone is and we'll be on our way," She replied, at which the spirit scoffed with a knowing, dreadful smile that seemed more like an expectant sigh. He turned and slowly began leading them to a sheer cliff, a half-circle carved into the flat edge that dropped from the ridge.

"If only it were that simple," He peered over the cliff's edge down to a large circular stone. Just barely, the two could see faded orange speckles on the grey stone, purple in the ever-present eclipse's dull, purple cast. "What you seek lies before you… As does what you fear," He warned forebodingly.

Natasha followed the Red Skull's gaze to the bottom of the sheer cliff, summarizing his ghostly vague hint with, "Yeah, the stone's down there," The phantom laughed breathily at her simple colloquialization. He turned back to Clint before his gaze became intensely grappled with the ground. 

"For one of you. For the other…" He trailed off before rerailing his sentence on a different track. "In order to take the Stone, you must lose that which you love. An everlasting exchange…" He trailed off again as his eyes returned to Natasha's warningly. He swallowed his silence as he finished with,

"A soul… For a soul."

As the realization hit both of them, Natasha backed up onto a broken pillar, sitting down as Clint slowly began pacing in morbid contemplation. She placed her hands over her mouth in a bleak attempt to gain the reigns to her stoicism, but over the last five years of depression, Natasha's feelings became harder and harder to contain. She contemplated this disdained dilemma for five minutes before she subconsciously sniffled heavily, attracting Clint's attention.

"You okay? I mean, Jesus, maybe he's making this shit up-" He began before he was hoarsely cut off by Romanoff. "No, he's not." Clint looked away in anger before he callously retorted, "Why, cause he knows your daddy's name?" His anger was prevalent and clear but Natasha remained unfazed.

"I didn't. You know that. I mean, think about it, Clint. Thanos left here with the stone, but without his daughter. It can't be a coincidence," Clint nodded desperately at her unsurprising revelation but it still stung nonetheless. He looked at fiery-headed spy as she stood. "Whatever it takes," She reminded him.

"Whatever it takes," He tearfully agreed. Natasha swallowed her fear before she ignited her brutally irritating ability of convincing. "If we don't get that Stone, billions of people stay dead," He nodded, adding on with, "Then I guess we both know who it's gotta be," She concluded with a quiet, "I guess we do."

Clint took Natasha's small hands in his as he looked at her sadly. She was crying silently, small tears falling down her gentle, broken face. It had been almost seventeen years ago when he had directly disobeyed Nick Fury and spared Natasha's life, and now he knew he would perform the debt and spare her one last time. As his plan worked its way through his mind he whispered,

"I'm sorry," With Natasha's guard down, Clint quickly whipped out a shock arrow- the same one he used to incapacitate Wanda damn well near ten years ago. Four arms extended from the head of the arrow and stuck themselves to Natasha's neck, adhering to her flawless flesh like a second skin. Her nervous system began short-circuiting as she collapsed to her knees. Her body was twitching as the mechanical electricity kept her in place. Clint kneeled down before Natasha and grimaced as her eyes went wide in realization, almost begging him to release her.

"We've become different people, Nat. You know what I've become. I know you're gonna say that you don't judge people by their worst mistakes but…" He looked away sadly, gasping back a sob before returning his gaze. "Maybe you should. Tell my family I love them," Natasha shook her head no, just barely fighting back the shock of the arrow. He laughed at her stubborn nature, even at a time like this.

"You're a real pain in my ass, y' know that?" He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Natasha's paralyzed lips before rising. Natasha followed his eyes as he slowly walked towards the sheer fall. He stood broodingly at the edge and looked back to his friend who still shook in immobility. He turned back to the edge as he placed a foot into the air. Barton spread out his arms as his body tilted forward and fell down the void.

As Natasha watched Clint fall, she felt her body react but her mind remain where it was. She felt her arm reach up and snap the arrow, her body rush to the edge and see Clint hanging onto the wall of the cliff with a smart-ass grin, then she felt herself wake up in her bed in the Avengers Facility. She felt her head turn to look around and see Bruce Banner asleep beside her, silently promising her that everything was alright. Promising that there was no Thanos, no immediate threats, that everyone was still alive and happy. She finally felt her body lay back down into the warm bed, slowly falling asleep to dream of what her redeemed life would hold for her.

But it was then that she felt her mind ruthlessly and remorselessly rip her body back, still twitching from Clint’s arrow. The Red Skull kneeled next to her and removed the arrow from her neck. Immediately, she dashed over to the edge and peered over slowly, almost scared of what she would see. But nothing, _ nothing _could have prepared her for what she saw in the pit of the fall. 

Clint Barton’s dead body lay still and unmoving, gracefully sprawled over the ancient stone. A sudden boom deafened out Natasha’s desperate cries. Her vision slowly went black, before she awoke in a low puddle near the Benetar, though somehow she was completely dry. There was something warm in her left hand. She opened it slowly as an orange glow shone from between her thin fingers. 

A small, orange rock, no bigger than her knuckle, shone from her palm. Romanoff felt more tears well in her face as she realized what it had cost. She looked away and sealed it into her palm, unable to even look upon the rock without seeing Clint’s face within it. She stood from the puddle and slowly returned to the spaceship. When she sat in the front seat, she laid back and felt like she hadn’t rested in her entire life. She breathed out shakily as she put the stone in one of her pockets carelessly.

The Time-Space device on her wrist began flashing, telling her she was about to return to her time. She sighed slowly, before taking hold of the controls of her ship and began to soar off the surface of the cursed eclipsed planet.

\---

Tony, Steve, Scott, Bruce, Natasha, Thor, Rocket and Rhodey landed roughly on the platform of the Quantum tunnel. Loki quickly dashed up the stairs to his brother. Thor was buried under Rocket Raccoon, who was holding the device they had snatched the Aether with, filled with a slow-moving red sludge. Thor had a handle under his arm, decorated with ornate, shaped rings of metal leading down from the huge boxy head of the weapon. At the base of the hilt was a metal cap with a leather strap through.

"Thor is that… Mjolnir," Loki commented as Thor revealed his magic hammer from the past with a smile. "I'm still worthy, brother," Loki smiled at Thor's enthusiasm. The other Avengers began rising, with Tony up first to help Steve up. Scott looked at the Tesseract in Stark's hand as he stood up with a look of entrapment. 

"That box is so cool," He smiled. Stark gave him a brisk, fake smile as Rocket clambered off of the standing God of Thunder. Natasha stayed on the floor of the portal, sobbing silently. Bruce knelt down next to her, staying silent as he realized why she was crying. He embraced her shuddering form and she placed her head into his neck. They stayed there for what felt like an eternity. In the meantime, Rhodey had stood up and was now searching for Clint. From his vantage over Natasha's shoulder, Bruce could see Rhodey's face. Rhodey looked to Bruce and raised a hand as if to ask the Avenger where her friend was.

Bruce quickly shook his head no, telling him to back down. Rhodey's face fell with realization and his head went with it. Tony, Steve, Scott, Thor and Rocket slowly got the message from the silence and the absence of Barton that he had not made it. They all stood in quiet, only Natasha's occasional sob breaking the eerie stillness.

They had all of the Stones, but what did it cost for them? 

More than they know...

  
**To Be Continued...**


	2. Chapter I: The Thanos Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You mess with time, it tends to mess back. But, Earth- 199 621's time retaliates with brutality for some, mercy for others. Are the lives given worth those spared? Only Time will tell...

**Avengers: Reforged I: The Thanos Fight**

**Earth- 199 621, 2023**

**Endgame Spoilers Ahead**

**Laboratory- Snap Preparation**

The Gauntlet sat on a pedestal, the six Stones- Space, Time, Soul, Mind, Power and Reality glowing innocently despite the immense amount of power each and every one of them held. Iron Man, Captain America, Thor Odinson, Loki Odinson, The Black Widow, Ant-Man, The War Machine, Rocket Raccoon and Nebula all stood behind the sheet of a glass-like display as if it would save them from the reality they were facing, which Rocket Raccoon callously yet necessarily brought up.

“So, we got ‘em all. But the question now is… Who’s gonna Snap their freaking’ fingers?” He spoke slowly, dreadfully almost. Thor breathed deeply, before answering, “Me. I will,” The cybernetical animal looked up to him to see tears within the corners of his eyes. Tony lowered the display, turning to the God as he took a step towards the Gauntlet.

“What? That thing will rip you apart,” His brother, the dark-dressed son of Odin spoke up as he put his hand in front of Thor. “You don’t have your previous strength, Brother,” Thor looked at him sadly, yet with the will of his true godliness. “I have all the power I need, brother, what is running through my veins right now?” Loki looked at Thor sadly and opened his mouth, about to answer legitimately when Rhodey cut in with,

“Mayonnaise?” Thor’s eyes never left Loki’s as he gave Rhodey the finger. “Lightning. I have lightning, flowing through me,” He clarified as he turned back to the group. “I’m the strongest Avenger, I should be the one to do it,” He said, his usually powerful voice breaking. “Please, just let me do at least one more right thing,” Loki looked down sadly as the merits of his speech returned to bite him.

As everyone fell silent, a step towards the Gauntlet cracked across the room as Bruce Banner entered wearing nothing but an almost black pair of dark purple sweatpants. The door shut behind him, locking automatically. He walked to the pedestal, never separating his gaze from the powerful glove. As he moved he spoke, 

“As you know, when Thanos snapped five years ago, he eliminated half of all living things- plants, animals, _ people _… But the Snap itself emitted a radiation wave that should have killed Thanos, Thor and Loki, had they been human. But, Thor and Loki are Gods, and Thanos was... “ He trailed off, allowing his comrades to fill in the rather shallow logical hole. They all knew how powerful he was, even without the Stones. 

“The radiation causes major burns, as we saw with Thanos- the power shrivelled his arm and _welded _the Gauntlet to it, and that was after a single snap," He snapped his fingers for emphasis. "The second one basically made his left arm useless. But, he snapped only days apart. Theoretically, if only one occurred and the snapper had some ability to heal-” Tony cut Banner off.

“The medical foam in the suit-” However, Banner cut Stark off in return.

“No, Tony. Hulk can heal, faster than any medicine. And besides, the radiation the Snap is anywhere from eighty percent to ninety-five percent gamma radiation. It's like… We were made for this," He finished, looking up at his team with a brooding, dark grin like had hadn't slept in days. Natasha noticed the bags under his eyes as soon as she looked him in the face. She silently mouthed 'no' before moving her hand over the desk that lay just beneath the previous screen. She expected to approach Banner and bring him away, but she was actually met with Tony laying his hand on the surface of her shoulder. Natasha glared daggers before Stark commented,

"Gringo's right, Nat. Let him do it, and stay behind me," Her eyes met Bruce's as he held up his left hand, coaxing her to stay back where she would be safe. 

Bruce laid his hands on the pedestal and stared at the magnetically levitating weapon. He swallowed his fear, before looking to Natasha and smiling. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply. His eyes snapped open, now a lime green, glowing with radioactive power.

"Remember, Bruce, only bring back everyone that was taken, okay? Don't... change anything from the last five years. Just bring everyone back home," Tony commented, doing his best to defend his wife and daughter even despite the distance.

"Friday, do me a favour and activate Protocol Eight." Tony then asked after Bruce nodded solemnly. Friday gave a kind note of response before windows began enveloping themselves with metal sheets, as did skylights above Bruce. Tony's new suit began appearing from the triangular light on his chest, and he raised a blue, transparent shield that stood to shield the nervous Romanoff from any physical effect the Snap would have. 

The helmet of Scott's suit clamped over his head, Rhodey's mask clanged shut, Rocket took cover behind Thor, and Thor put his arm in front of Loki defensively, earning an odd look from his brother. Cap took position nearby Tony and raised his circular shield defensively.

Bruce breathed deeply again before whispering to himself, "Everyone comes home," He looked to Natasha before looking back to the weapon. He closed his eyes and sighed before sitting down in a meditation-like stance. His skin slowly began turning green, and he began growing. He arched his back and rose from the stance before slamming his fists on the floor. A low growl emerged from him as his back thickened and cracked, the bones and veins thickening to support the Hulk. Banner's pants grew around his olive ankles but stayed whole, the seams broadening up to his jade calves. His arms grew in diameter, muscle emerging from the green flesh. Banner's hair darkened from a greying dark brown to a deep black.

Hulk looked up from his crouched position, casting an evil-looking glare towards the Gauntlet. He stood, his head only about a meter from the ceiling now. He towered over all that stood before him, and the glove of destruction was dwarfed by the Hulk's very finger. He looked up to his team, smiling through his evil-looking snarl. 

"Everyone comes home," The Hulk growled, repeating Banner's words. He approached the glove before picking it up. The weapon formed of Tony's nanobots began expanding and reforming to fit the massive hand it was to descend upon. Hulk looked back up to Natasha as the glove reconfigured. Her lip quivered quickly before she rectified it with a fake cough. Hulk nodded to her as Stark's Gauntlet stopped moving. It was now large enough to fit on the arm of the moss-coloured monster. He rested the edge on the tips of his meaty fingers before allowing the glove to fall into place.

He roared in pain and fell to a knee as the colours of the stones- an unnerving blue from the Space Stone, a mystical green emerged from the Time Stone, an ominous orange emanated from the Soul Stone, a controlling yellow burned from the Mind Stone, an unsurprisingly powerful purple shot from the Power Stone and a burning red from the Reality Stone- shot through the Hulk's arm in beams, adhering to the curvature of his musculature as they burned. However, his incredible healing counteracted the singeing of his dark emerald-tinted skin.

He curled his hand into a fist and roared, causing Natasha and Rocket to cover their ears. Tony and Rhodey were protected thanks to their armour, and the Gods- alongside God's Righteous Man- were practically immune due to their enhancements or physiological differences. Thor suddenly began panicking.

Take it off! Get it off!" He tried to approach but Tony stopped him with a whir of his repulsor. But, when Hulk saw Thor throw himself into a dangerous path he roared vehemently, keeping him at bay. In a pure show of power, Hulk readily stood and shoved his chest to the sky with a godlike roar, deafeningly loud. Thor slowly raised two thumbs in sheer amazement and Loki stared with an immense impression of the power he had sought out forever- the Tesseract, which was unknowingly an Infinity Stone- while Natasha had to be held back by Rhodey to keep her safe. 

The spikes of light began fading, leaving The Hulk- one of the most powerful creatures in the known universe- equipped with the most powerful cosmic weapon in the universe. He admired his feat as his breathing once again began normalizing, smiling at the dormant stones dully glowing in the nanotech glove. He raised it to the team with an open palm facing himself. He then closed his fist, and the stones began humming pleasantly yet ominously. He raised his thumb, index finger and middle finger, his thumb and middle meeting with his index hovering just above. Hulk smiled as he brought his fist up into the air, and then-

**SNAP.**

A flash of white light took over Hulk's vision, and he felt himself leave his body, much like it did when The Ancient One pushed him and Banner out of himself. Hulk and Banner awoke within an odd, unrecognizable realm. They were separate entities, yet they shared the same mind, the same thoughts. The realm was unfamiliar, unrecognizable. 

Unrecognizable, except…

The Harvard University stood before both of them amongst a foreboding orange sky, with a woman standing on the steps that were actually very close. Banner stepped towards her, as did Hulk, alongside a growl to attract the woman's attention. She was wearing black heels, a cream overcoat and she had dark brown hair looming over her small shoulders. At the sound of Hulk's growl, the woman turned to meet both of them. Both Hulk and Banner stepped back as they met her face…

Betty Ross, the love Banner had to leave behind due to the government hunting the Hulk. Her face was emotionless and plain, yet contained immense dread and a foreboding mood looming in the shadows of her cheeks.

"Betty?" Hulk asked, raising his hand in her direction. Betty smiled to Hulk, before turning to Banner.

"Did you do it?" She asked, created immense confusion in both Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde. "Um, yeah? I mean, he- _ we _snapped our fingers," Banner clarified. Betty smiled, before continuing, "What did it cost?" Hulk and Banner met eyes, before nodding to each other. In unison, they replied, "Trust," Betty flashed a toothy smile before both of the snappers' visions went white again. 

\---

Hulk's hand, still dressed in the now blackened and cracked Tech Gauntlet, was lightly pluming grey smoke. His arm, much like Thanos' had been, was cooked, shrivelled and cracked, with evergreen fresh flesh showing from within the crevices of the blackened skin. 

Hulk fell to his right knee, the same fist against the cement of the facility. He was holding the charred weapon over his head, the six Stones absolutely unfazed by the power of the Snap, glowing through the melted microbots. Hulk opened his eyes, looking to the rest of his team through his fleet-faring vision. Tony, Steve and Thor rushed over to Hulk's fading form as he collapsed, the Gauntlet sliding off in the fall. A faint hissing emanated from Tony's suit as his medical foam sprayed onto his arm. The coolness soothed the light burning the Hulk felt, but his healing was already taking hold, slowly closing the gaps and cracks of his increasingly re-greening flesh.

"Friday, disengage Protocol Eight!" The windows opened again, and sunlight flooded in through the skylight once more as well. Nebula had since disappeared, Rocket was still from shock, as was Loki, while Natasha rushed over and angrily kicked the charcoal-like power glove.

"Don't touch it!" Thor warned her as she kneeled next to Hulk panickedly. His faintly glowing eyes fuzzily looked to her as he slowly, weakly groaned, "Natasha…" She nodded as tears stained the corners of her eyes. Her mouth quivered uncontrollably as she whispered,

"You did it, Big Guy, you did it," She was fully crying now, her voice cracking and breaking constantly. She rubbed his cheek calmingly and the Hulk breathed a sigh of contentedness. However, be groaned as he rose to his knees, the other Avengers supporting him as he lumbered up. He smiled at the Black Widow before his expression hardened again. He growled before grabbing his left arm with his right. He clenched his left fist, the ashen flesh crumbling off. He stood and roared, heaving his left arm into the sky. The shrivelled limb began shaking with tension, and the slim, shallow cracks began glowing a slight;y green hue ever so mystically. The green light slowly intensified, so much so that Natasha had to shield her eyes from the emerald essence of light. Smaller cracks splintered from the larger healing ones, allowing more of the lime light to pass. More and more cracks emerged, growing thicker and thicker until the remaining crisped flesh evaporated into dark dust, revealing a completely healed arm.

It was fully sized for The Hulk, and the green light was fading quickly. Hulk flexed his fingers, making a tense fist then releasing it repeatedly. Natasha ran her hands over Hulk's arm, feeling that it was hot to the touch, though it was also fading quickly. She looked up at him with a tearful smile, which he returned proudly.

"Better healing, Stark," Hulk commented. Stark- as well as everyone else in the room- was shocked, and even Friday's silence told that her processing capabilities were struggling.

Scott slowly approached the open window, hearing birds chirp from an outside tree. He scoffed to himself joyfully before he suddenly opened his phone and dialled a contact almost so fast he couldn't comprehend the numbers.

He brought the phone to his ear, waiting for any other response than a monotone dial. The phone rung. He nervously clung the phone to his face as he waited, bouncing from one foot to the other waiting for a response. 

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Four.

"Scott?!" 

It was Hope. The Snap worked. It actually worked! 

Scott was beyond relieved to hear a voice he thought was never to be heard again. He was silent from shock until Hope spoke again. "Scott? Is that you?" She sounded scared, desperate, like when you have a brooding feeling that you're being followed but can't confirm anything. He quickly came back from bis shock and slowly answered her.

"Y-yeah, it's Scott. Hey, um, didn't think you actually, uh… Y'know…" He was still recovering from the shock. In the background, he heard Hope's parents Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne reuniting confusedly. Hope spoke again, still sounding scared.

"Scott, what just happened? Where are you, where's the van, where's our equipment? I-I don't know what's…" Hope was panicking, and rightfully so. Scott sighed in frustration, realizing how complicated the real story would be, especially over the phone.

"Okay, Hope look. It's a lot more complicated… than… it…" His words slowly came to a stop as a humongous shadow blotted out the sun from above as he spoke. He looked up through the window to see a giant black ship, wide and segmented, with the thick "wings" of the ship turning to navigate. Scott's helmet slammed down regardless of Hope's cries as he gasped,

"Thanos." A blue flare-like missile was jetting directly for him and he was preparing to shrink down to save himself.

**Destroyed Laboratory**

Tony Stark, Thor Odinson and Steve Rogers slowly approached the Mad Titan Thanos, who sat rather leisurely on an isolated piece of the ruined facility. 

Tony was equipped in his most recent suit- the near-perfect Mark LXXXV (Eighty-five), the suit almost skin-tight against him, crafted entirely from far more advanced and diverse nanotech than five years ago. The main light of the suit was still over his heart, glowing light blue. Like his Mark L (Fifty) suit, there were several miniature arc reactors in the suit; Two parallel to and slightly below either shoulder, two below the pectorals, two above the hip, along the arms and legs and at the bottom of the neck, as well as a few along the back. The suit was the typical red and gold, but it was more segmented, colour-wise. The shoulders and arms were gold, but the forearms and hands were red with a blue-lit repulsor in either palm. The legs were similar, gold from the thigh to the knee and what were essentially knee pads, but the knees down to the boots were red, with thrusters in the boots. The main body was red, with gold trimming along the abdominals. The helmet was red with a golden mask, two slim lights across his eyes glowing blue. They followed the slight curvature of what was almost like an eyebrow, giving the mask an angry appearance. Two rounded points ascended from the plane of the ‘eyebrow’ from either side of the top mask with a red point came down, almost like the jaws of a beast along the top plane of his mask.

Next to him was Captain of the Avengers, dressed in one of his typical patriotic uniforms. The main colour was a deep dark blue, the gloves brown with small hard plastic pieces on the back of the palms, guarding the exterior of his fingers and on his knuckles. His boots were a near black brown, with three leather straps leading to the top, ending just under the knees. The midsection of his suit had blocky red and white stripes, forming well with the giant hard plastic star over Rogers' heart. His head was unguarded, allowing his hair to blow ever gently in the wind caused by the destruction. His beard was somewhat messy, but it still retained its regality and utter respectability. He had foregone the usual cowl he wore with the suit, instead keeping his proud nomad look from the Accords catastrophe. His fantastically blue eyes were sharp and callous, yet they held an odd warmth and humble pride mirrored by his indestructible circular shield. The white star in the center gallantly glittered against the flamelight.

Next to him was Thor Odinson, dressed in his usual scalemail attire, however, his depression over his failure to kill Thanos before he snapped his fingers had led to an unfortunately prominent belly, as well as the loss of his musculature. He still kept his kingliness, however, as both Mjolnir- his loyal bulky-headed hammer of legend from times past- and his new axe, Stormbreaker were held rightfully in his hands. The God's usually unkempt beard was in a powerful Nordic braid and his hair was flowing majestically. His eyes threw off blue electricity and sparks as lightning lit his being. 

Thanos had his giant right hand between two equally massive blades, united by one hilt in the middle. The blades were tapered into angled points at either end, but the points were tilted opposite directions from each other. Covering the Titan’s body was worn, scratched golden-coloured armour, undercut by shiny blue metal highlights and vacuous black fabric. 

Thanos’ head was bare, but beside him on the shrapnel surfaced soil was a matching helmet- gold-sheening metal with navy blue highlights. His exposed skin was a sun-bleached purple, reflecting flamelight with the thin layer of sweat the heat had garnered. His left arm was across his knee, with his titanic hand limp. A dark, abhorrent look of grim hatred dressed his face like a moonless night. The madman steeled his jaw before a sneering smile blinked across Thanos’ purple, ridged face.

“You could not live with your own failure,” Thanos begun, recalling their epic loss back in 2018 as Tony and Thor weaved between debris to meet the Titan, Steve walking directly to meet him, his powerful gaze never leaving Thanos'. “And where did that bring you?” He asked, slyly raising an eyebrow, rhetorically asking them as if it were an enigma.

“Back to me,” He spoke with such a tone that sounded like he was reprimanding the three Avengers for not answering- or choosing not to. The three finally met in front of the gigantic Warlord. He smiled egotistically, but that smile faded quickly, similarly to his first. His face reverted back to the grim mask he wore at the beginning before he continued his speech.

“I thought by eliminating half of all life, the other half would thrive,” He sighed before a sigh-like laugh echoed out of his throat as his head bowed down. He ran his left thumb over his index finger knuckle in thought, before looking back up to the trio before him. A scowl came across his face as he looked Thor specifically in the eyes.

“But you’ve shown me that’s impossible. That as long as there are those who remember what was, there will always be those that are unable to accept what can be,” He ranted, a tone of anger rising in his voice as his cold gaze shifted to Captain America. Thanos’ icy eyes pierced through Steve’s, leaving a subtle feeling of discomfort lodged in the spine of the Super-Soldier. The Mad Titan smiled seeing his gaze unsettle the man, before finishing his rant with the spine-chilling,

“They will resist,” Tony suddenly felt his snarky instincts kick in- almost painfully so- before retorting the madman with, 

“Yep. We’re all kinds of stubborn when it comes to preventable mass genocide there, Grimace,” Thor and Steve smiled at Tony’s quip, but Thanos quickly replied with a low growl, cutting the old-fashioned joy short. The giant smiled before continuing,

“I’m thankful for that,” Thanos sighed, bringing well-masked confusion to all three Avengers. “Because now, I know what I must do,” With that, he stood, brandishing the gigantic sword easily in his right hand. In his left was the helmet that was on the ground. He stood incredibly taller than any of the three, with Thor- easily the tallest of any of these three- only coming up to the bottom ridges of the giant’s pectoral muscles.

“I must shred this universe down to its last atom,” Thanos put the helmet on his head, completing his armour. His left hand curled into a fist with audible cracks, and his right tightened further upon the hilt of his blade. He looked towards the trio with a glare.

“And then… With the stones _you’ve _gathered for me,” He said with a slight smirk, “Create a new one. Teeming with life, but knows not what it has lost, only what it has been given… A truly grateful universe, with no possibility of mutiny,” He finished, leaving Steve Rogers- the ultimate good man- to point out the obvious dilemma with the Titan’s new plan.

“A world born out of blood,” He raised his shield instinctively, preparing for the inevitable fight. Thor readied the two weapons in his hands- the legendary Mjolnir in his right, and the humongous Stormbreaker in his left- while Stark’s nanobot mask formed around his face.

“They’ll never know it. Because you will not live to tell them,” Thanos set his right foot back and sneered, as if challenging the Avengers to reciprocate- to challenge him as well.

Thor was the first to accept, with a cry of power he summoned down lightning from the dark sky and electrified his two weapons, before spinning Mjolnir and using her to fly past Thanos and swing at the monster's head, though the blow was blocked. Cap followed quickly after with a backflip and Tony ascended, with two new clamp-like weapons forming from the wrists of his Mark LXXXV nanobot suit. Tony rapidly dove at the blade-wielding Mad Titan, who easily deflected him to the dirt, while at the same time Cap threw his shield from his backflip. It also ricocheted off of the blade of Thanos- who had slashed it with a fury- and returned to the Captain as he hit the ground before Thanos turned to face Thor. Thanos’ face was immediately met with the head of Mjolnir, which struck the monster just on the chin and flew behind Cap.

All the strike did, however, was turn Thanos back to the Captain, who the Titan slashed at with his heavy blade. The impact sent Rogers flying back, leaving only Thor for Thanos to face again. He delivered a hefty kick to the Aesir king, sending him smashing through fragments of the destroyed facility. Tony descended onto Thanos, firing a beam from his right-hand repulsor. The initial beam missed the Titan before a stronger beam was fired more accurately. Thor summoned Mjolnir, which weaved through the reflected laser beams that were Tony’s single beam being deflected by Thanos’ sword. Thor flew overhead as Tony settled back onto the ground he had started on, with Thanos not suffering even a scratch.

The back of the Mark LXXXV flowered open with six petal-like mechanical tendrils, all following the same colour scheme like the rest of the suit- blood-red, shiny gold and glowing blue lights on the surfaces facing the Titan.

“Okay, Thor, hit me!” Tony commented to the God of Thunder. Thor roared, before slamming together his weapons. A huge bolt of lightning shot down with a deafening crack before brutally crashing into the hole created by the flowering arms. Tony quickly pointed the hand repulsors towards the Mad Titan before him, before blinding beams burst forth from not only the hand repulsors but from a repulsor on the tip of each arm as well. Nine beams in total- including Tony's powerful Unibeam- flew towards Thanos, but it was all in vain, as Thanos- almost impossibly- twirled the sword by the hilt- almost like the blades of a helicopter- circling so hard it could create a black hole. The beams crashing into the blender-like blades were unrelenting, leaving Thanos fully occupied.

Thor took that opportunity at its fullest. He threw Mjolnir up, before adjusting his hold on Stormbreaker, holding it almost like a golf club. Thor shouted as he whacked his hammer with his full strength, sending it hurtling towards Stark and Thanos. 

Thanos growled before digging his blade into the ground and lunging towards Stark, bearing the heat of the beams for a split second. As his meaty palms gripped Stark’s suit, the arms retracted back into the main body, ready to be recycled into other weaponry. Thanos held the struggling, helpless Tony like an elastic band as Mjolnir crashed into him, sending him hurtling into debris. 

F.R.I.D.A.Y. spoke to him in a worried voice, “C’mon boss, wake up. They need yer fightin’,” Her light Irish accent subconsciously soothed the unconscious Tony.

Thanos smirked as the Mark LXXXV sparked with blue electricity- both Thor’s and not- before Captain America flipped into a kick in his face. Thanos cried out, before retaliating with a heavy punch, sending Steve flying onto his back. With a tangible, palpable fury, Thanos threw his dual-blade in a spinning whirlwind at Thor, who did a baseball-like slide under the flying, spinning blade. He ran at Thanos as his blade careened right past his left ear. Thanos caught the sword in his right hand before Thor leapt at the madman. Lightning sparked off him, bouncing between the six points on his chestplate, the ground and his glowing, electrified eyes. 

Thor slammed Stormbreaker against the dual blade, pressing the heavy axe onto the blade. With a quick whip, Thor sent the blade to the side out of Thanos’ hand, much to the Titan’s surprise. The God of Thunder then threw an electrified swing of the axe at the godlike being before him, but Thanos caught the swing and threw the axe away, He dove at Thor, and grabbed him by the collar. 

He heaved the heavy man over his head before tossing him away like trash. He lumbered over to Thor’s limp form, before throwing a few meaty punches in an unrelenting flurry of quick attacks. He picked the weakened god up again, before tossing him in the direction he had sent Stark. Thor slid into debris before the Titan dashed over a delivered a hefty kick to Thor’s gut. He threw punch after punch at Thor, who despite the attacking managed to summon Stormbreaker to his hand. 

Thor’s hand widened as the electrified hammer-axe flew towards him. Suddenly, however, the weapon stopped dead in the air as Thanos caught the weapon mid-flight. He sneered evilly, before bringing the axe down and pushing it towards Thor’s chest- mirroring his suffering in Wakanda five years ago- or so he had collected from Nebula’s memories. The God of Thunder did his best to resist the Titan’s pushing, but his muscles had faded drastically since 2018, and he wasn’t able to fully resist Thanos’ strength lime he most likely would have been able to back then. 

He felt his weapon’s blade poke his chest before suddenly Thanos recoiled back, Stormbreaker subsequently collapsing to the ground, Mjolnir flying back from Thanos’ ridged chin. It slowed in mid-air, before suddenly flying the other direction- the direction from which it came. The hammer accelerated, humming greatly with the pitch rising as it gained speed, before slamming rightfully into Captain America’s right hand. He recoiled from the force but turned to face Thanos with a look of steeled determination in his righteously blue eyes. He held his battered, scratched shield in his left hand and the shiny, legendary Mjolnir clenched within his right.

Thor couldn’t help but smile widely and shout, “I knew it!” He had suspected Steve’s worthiness ever since Tony had created Ultron- when he had budged the hammer during the after-party in 2015. Whether it was partial worthiness or Steve being kind back then, the hammer had moved more with him than anyone- even Hulk back on the Helicarrier in 2012- who Thor knew was physically stronger than anyone on the team, even him- now more than ever.

Thanos looked down to the smiling Thor, before kicking him opposite from the hammer-wielding Captain. He then brandished his dual-edged sword defensively as Cap began twirling the hammer by the strap, as he had seen Thor do countless times. He began dashing toward the giant, as did Thanos to him. Steve struck first, throwing the momentous hammer into Thanos’ chin yet again, throwing him back and knocking the blade out of his giant hand. The monster recovered quickly, using the blade he caught mid-air as a brake. 

The Captain then followed by throwing the shield towards Thanos, who easily deflected it. The shield flew upwards, followed quickly by Mjolnir. The hammer struck the shield, sending reverberations onto the Titan. He dropped his massive blade, leaving Cap a perfect opportunity. He summoned the shield back with the electromagnets on his left arm and called the hammer back with his right. He once against dashed at Thanos, jumping up and cracking his shield against Thanos’ armoured face. He then slammed the hammer against the giant’s gut, following up with a shield bash to the chin. He then used Mjolnir to propel the shield into Thanos, sending him skidding back several meters. 

He threw the summoned shield, bashing Thanos in the face yet again. When the shield returned, Cap then smashed the edge with Mjolnir, sending a far more powerful bash toward the Titan. The impact fractured Thanos’ helmet, sending shards of golden metal and navy fragments in a spew, accentuated with a satisfying _crack_.

Cap then valiantly raised the hammer to the skies, creating a clap of roaring thunder. A fat bolt of white-hot electricity shot from the sky and struck the hammer before the Captain threw an equally hefty blade at Thanos. The lightning threw Thanos back, landing on his back as the lightning surged through him. 

Cap then leapt upward, summoning another surge of power from the heavens. The lightning struck _him_, though no ill effects were to be had. He _absorbed _the bolt, lighting up similarly to Thor. His eyes sparked vivaciously and particles and streams of lightning surged across his patriotic uniform. He let out a cry of strength, before using both his shield and his new hammer to strike Thanos’ chest with all of his might. Thanos, however, was ready. 

He grabbed Cap’s collar, the electricity evaporating. He then threw the human to the ground, before kicking his sword into his right hand. Cap used his weight to flip back up onto his feet, before furiously throwing Mjolnir at Thanos’ face. The Titan failed to react, and the hammer struck him square in the forehead.

The weakened helmet could not bear any more battle damage and fractured in two down the center, cracking and separating before falling to the ground. Thanos shook his head, relieving the dizziness caused by the impact. He gazed down at the broken helm before he shouted and slashed in fury at the Captain, who ducked under the blade, mere centimetres from his nose. Thanos swung the blade down, and again Cap dodged the brutal attack. Thanos then delivered a heavy downward swing. 

It caught the very edge of Cap’s shield, causing him to stumble. 

Thanos wasted no time capitalizing on the opening and shoved his blade at the Captain, throwing him back. Cap recovered quickly, before dashing to strike the Titan with Mjolnir. Thanos threw his sword to the ground, guarding against the attack with his resilient left forearm guard. He swung a deadly right hook towards Cap’s face, only for it to be ducked under. Thanos quickly followed up with a left-handed uppercut, sending Cap flying. He lost his grip on Mjolnir, leaving it crashing to the ground in a dense puff of dust and debris.

Cap rapidly stood as Thanos rushed him, holding up his shield defensively. Thanos swung his recovered blade downwards…

Slicing clean _through _the shield, much to Cap’s surprise and despair. Thanos swung again, slicing _off _a piece of the shield. A red, roughly triangular fragment rounded on one edge and jagged on the other two was sent to the ground. Thanos struck again, now sending a white-and-red piece off of the once-thought-indestructible shield. Again and again, Thanos struck, sending more and more of the shield away, reducing the disk to almost half its original size. With a final, devastating blow, Thanos struck the shield again, this time sending Captain America skidding into the shrapnel and dirt around him.

Steve couldn't open his eyes at first. His head was unstable, blood was racing through his ears and he felt the taste of blood welling in his mouth. The sky was spinning, and the battlefield was blurry, the crackling of the fire piercing his ears dully.

It was then that all the memories of his rather extensive life began coming back to him- memories of his father, his immigrant mother, his best friend through thick and thin, his army brethren, the woman he loved, the plane crash, odd dream-like fragments from the ice, his awakening, fighting alongside a man of metal, a giant rage monster, a bow-and-arrow wielding assassin, a super-spy, fighting aliens, meeting gods, rediscovering his dead friend as an assassin, losing him again, finding him, finding out his secrets, losing him _again_, before getting him back a final time, then finally losing him for the last time.

‘_ Bucky… _’ Steve thought. Bucky. Bucky was the reason he fought. Bucky was the reason he needed to recover. Bucky was the reason he still fought; he fought to protect his best friend. He slowly stumbled to bis feet, staring Thanos down with a vengeance. He tightened the straps of his broken, craggy, patriotic shield around his arm as he thought of avenging his friend, staring valiantly at what descended in front of him.

Thanos' humongous ship, the '_ Sanctuary II _' floated down from space, and behind the monstrous Mad Titan four beings of varying size were beamed from the ship, some he recognized from the Wakandan fight back in 2018, some entirely new to him. Hordes of both Chitauri aliens- which he recognized from the New York Attack all the way back in 2012- and the hideous Outriders from the Wakanda battle were racing towards him, foaming at the mouths from hatred. Thanos spoke up as his army came to a halt behind him.

"In all my years of conquest… Violence… Slaughter… It was never personal. But I'll tell you now… What I'm about to do to your stubborn, annoying little planet… I will enjoy it. Very much." With that, he brandished his sword with a sneering grin.

As Steve felt the swell in his chest to fight, a crackling voice came over his in-helmet radio. A voice that wasn't Tony's, nor Thor's, nor any voice he'd expected to hear ever again…

Sam Wilson's voice crackled, "_ Cap, you hear me?" _Steve looked around, bewildered, as Sam's voice flooded his brain. Back in 2018, Sam had been part of the fifty percent unlucky enough to be eliminated by Thanos' snap. But, was this really Sam, or was Cap hallucinating in his final moments? 

Once again, Sam's voice echoed over his racing mind, 

"_ Cap, it's Falcon. Can you hear me? _" Steve once again looked around, but nothing was there until he spotted something behind him from a glint on his broken shield. He turned, only to be met by fizzling orange sparks crackling in midair. They were small, faint and minute, but they existed.

"_ On… Your left… _" With those words, the sparks began expanding and brightening, revealing themselves to be some sort of portal. Out of the portal stepped King T'Challa- the king of Wakanda- Princess Shuri, T'Challa's sister and Okoye, the most loyal member and the general of the Wakandan Kingsguard, the Dora Milaje. T'Challa and Shuri had their arms crossed over their chests in an 'X', while Okoye had a sharp, brutal spear at the ready. Steve returned the smile that was dressed on the face of the King when suddenly Sam flew overhead the four, dressed in his usual Falcon armour- a thin camouflage chestplate with a bulky jetpack and two long, thin wings. He circled overhead, revealing to Cap a myriad of other portals leading to places across the universe.

In one, countless Wakandan soldiers flooded out, along with the Jabari tribe and their leader M'Baku- who was chanting something of his own. Both forces were rallied together and prepared to fight Thanos' forces. King T'Challa began reciting some sort of Wakandan war cry- one he recognized from 2018- in a valiant attempt to rile up his army. Out of another floated Doctor Stephen Strange, levitating with his wine-red cloak billowing behind him. He moved his hands in a violent yet fluid manner which ended with them together. He separated them, creating orange, spinning shields made of magic. They had mysterious otherworldly symbols on the outward-facing edges. Drax the Destroyer- wielding his deadly dual curved blades- Mantis, even Star-Lord with his manic mask and his two guns hovered next to Strange. Peter Parker, dressed in his Iron-Spider suit slung to Drax's side before his mask disappeared, revealing his young, boyish face.

Out another portal emerged a group of Ravagers and Ravager ships, all led by a blue-skinned man in a brown trenchcoat and a large dinosaur-like metal fin glowing red atop his head. He whistled before a small supersonic dart came shooting into his hand, leaving a bright red trail of light behind it. Near them was the group of Aesir warriors wielding gracious shields and sharp spears, led by Valkyrie atop her majestic winged pegasus and Thor's brother Loki, dressed in his dark green outfit and royal golden helmet, two curved horns ascending to sharp points appeared beside her. He carried two thin, sharp daggers, walking with the purposeful step of a God with a tremendous grudge. The humongous, intimidating Korg was beside him, wielding a massive shotgun-like weapon and Meik, who was pointing one of his sharpened blades at Thanos' army. The Scarlet Witch dropped down beside them, wearing the same red trench coat, red corset, black jeans and high heels she wore when she faded from reality, her hands aglow with red light and her eyes glowing with the same intimidating energy. Behind her, countless Masters of the Mystic Arts- led by the imposing Wong- ignited orange swirling shields from their hands, identical to those of the Sorcerer Supreme.

Out of another portal, a young woman suddenly appeared- almost as if she had been microscopic- wearing a suit similar to Scott's- part a dark-blue and light silver colour scheme as opposed to the red and gun-metal of Lang's, with the addition of two silver breastplates and four giant insectoid wings emerging from the back of the suit. The suit was smaller and thinner than Scott's to fit the woman's thin, athletic frame. Steve knew this woman as Hope Van Dyne, the girlfriend Lang had called a few minutes after the Hulk's snap. 

Beside her emerged Hope's parents, the quantum-powered Janet Van Dyne and the genius Hank Pym- the creators of the Pym Particles and original suits. They wore upgraded versions, but they still differed from Scott and Hope's suits. They themselves matched, coloured a jet black with yellow highlights. Janet wore a version of The Wasp's suit and Hank wore an Ant-Man suit.

Beside the recovering Tony landed a thin purple metal suit, similar to his armour. The colours were different, a dark purple replacing the red and a refreshing silver replaced the gold of Tony's suit. The blue repulsors and arc reactors of Tony's suit were mirrored on the thinner one, but they glowed a simple white. The finely shaped silver pieces of armour glittered in the flamelight. The mask retracted revealing Pepper Potts, Tony's wife. She helped him to his feet before the couple flew behind Steve. Thor stepped up as well behind their patriotic leader. Doctor Strange approached Wong, orange shields emerging from both of them.

"Is that everyone?" Strange asked. Wong looked at him bewildered before he asked, "What, you wanted more?" 

As if on cue, the remnants of the lab rumbled before Scott- who Hope smiled relievedly at- burst through the wreckage at a size far larger than any other he had taken on before- bigger than the airport, bigger than the San Francisco bay. From his hand- which was the size of a spaceship- emerged Hulk, War Machine and Rocket Raccoon. Hulk landed on the ground hard, roaring at the army. Rhodey's upgraded War Machine suit had opened mortar compartments and guns pointed at the army before him, not to mention that it was painted a subtle but beautiful red and blue. Rocket Raccoon was perched on Rhodey's shoulder, a huge gun in his hand.

Out of one of the portals emerged someone Steve thought dead once again. Alongside Groot and the rest of the Dora Milaje emerged Bucky Barnes, carrying his deadly machine gun in his robotic left arm. He scanned the battlefield before locking eyes with Steve. He began walking, slowly speeding up until he was moving at his fastest speed- faster than a normal human thanks to his super-soldier serum. He slowed as he reached Steve, his breath normal and even, almost as if he hadn’t moved at all. Steve's breath was shallow and broken as he looked at Bucky, unable to believe the fact he was looking his best friend in the eyes once again. Bucky had been believed dead so many times, but the Captain had thought that Thanos had finally ended him. 

Clearly, he had been mistaken.

“Bucky?” Steve asked slowly, patting Bucky’s right shoulder. Bucky smiled, nodding. He embraced the still-shocked Rogers before he separated. Bucky looked forward, his grin fading to a scowl as he cocked his gun. It crunched as the lever flew back.

The entirety of the Avengers came to rest behind Steve, waiting upon his command. He held his broken shield surely, staring into the face of Thanos ahead of him. His right hand was up, ready to cast his army to fight the one in front of him. Steve raised his hand parallel, looking to Bucky, who nodded surely to him. He looked back to Thanos before raising his voice, "Avengers…" He opened his right hand and Mjolnir came to his hand readily. His hands were steady and prepared for the oncoming fight. The tension dividing his sentence was physical, a tangible object that took up the space between his army and that of the universe-slaughtering Titan. The air forcibly thickened as Steve held his word. The building pressure finally cracked as Captain America shouted,

"ASSEMBLE!" With those words, all Hell officially broke loose. The entire army charged forwards as Thanos threw his hand down, signalling the Chitauri, the Outriders and his own Children to charge as well. The 0utriders clambered rabidly towards the charging Aesir warriors. The ground shook as Giant-Man charged at his humongous size, Chitauri Leviathans roaring as they moved gracefully to combat Scott. The ape-like beasts beat their chests and charged, Hulk reciprocating the challenge as he leapt forward humongously.

Steve began spinning Mjolnir, running directly towards Thanos. Thanos sneered as he charged towards the patriotic Captain of the Avengers, the blade of the Titan slashing through the air with every step.

\---

Thanos lumbered clumsily in a large circle as his army evaporated into grey dust around him. His remaining children, Proxima Midnight and Ebony Maw- Corvus Glaive and Cull Obsidian had been killed by Okoye and Spider-Man respectively- staggered onto their knees as they faded. The titanic Leviathans crashed into the Earth, however, no force was delivered as they disintegrated upon impact. The Titan slowly sat on the same platform he had when he destroyed the facility as grey dust crumbled off of him. He sighed before succumbing to the dust and faded away into the breeze indifferently.

Tony, Steve and Natasha all reeled from the Snap, Tony taking the brutal brunt that felt more like a train hitting him than Hulk made it appear. His right arm was shrivelled and burnt much as Hulk's had been, and his thin face was cracked and blackened near the right side of his neck. He backed up slowly against some shrapnel. He slid down into a sitting position, looking at the destroyed arm of his suit. He could tell that the huge team line-up had certainly saved his life, but that wouldn't matter if he didn't do anything to save himself.

"Friday, what's happening," He jaggedly muttered to his AI. Friday ran diagnostics on her bosses' injured body. He was in a fragile condition, but he would live if action was taken immediately.

"Boss, if we act now you'll live. Unfortunately, your right arm isn't salvageable, but if we hurry the rest of ya' might be," The voice responded, confirming Stark's fear. He knew he wouldn't be able to save his arm, but he would follow Friday's advice. He quickly ejected the Stones onto the ground before painfully mumbling,

"Friday… Put everything into the thrusters…" His words were growing slurred, and his actions were almost like he was drunk. He was clearly running on soft fumes. Friday checked the thrusters and calculated the closest emergency room. If she distributed the energy correctly, he would make it.

"Yes sir," She activated the thrusters, and Stark's unconscious body began flying, now piloted by Friday. Pepper, clad in her own purple armour, rose and grabbed her husband's suit. She spoke to Friday through the in-helmet radio.

"Friday, I'll take over and fly him, I have more juice. Where's the hospital?" She asked the AI. Friday took over her suit as well and the couple took off with a supersonic sound burst. The twin suits quickly became specks on the dark sky. Steve Rogers looked over the battlefield and took note of wounded and dead. 

Carol Danvers was dead, Rhodey was sulking over her body without a suit, Hope Van Dyne was unconscious but alive, her body recovering from her fight with two Chitauri beasts. She was being watched over by her parents and Scott, who was holding her hand. Hulk was lying on the ground weakly with Natasha comforting him and King T'Challa was checking up on his largely wounded army. Bucky walked up to the Captain of the Avengers and hugged him tightly. 

"We won Steve, we did it," He separated with a smile before he looked out on the field. His smile dropped somewhat, but he kept high hopes. "We won," He repeated. Steve smiled at Bucky before he began trudging towards the King. T'Challa met his gaze, before looking to the physically and muscularly massive Jabari tribe leader, M'Baku.

"And how have you done, M'Baku?" T'Challa asked, his voice filled with regal spirit and warrior-like stoicism. M'Baku looked out to his force, before returning his gaze back to Wakanda's King.

"We have suffered some losses and injuries but we will recover," The Great Gorilla responded. T'Challa nodded as he followed M'Baku's gaze over the soldiers, dead, wounded and living. All things considered, they fared very well against the forces of Thanos. T'Challa turned as Wanda Maximoff descended beside him, her energy passing over the ground lightly as she slowed her fall. She turned to Captain Rogers.

"Has Vision been brought here?" Her voice was lightly accented with Sokovian as it had always been, but it was also hinted with desperateness and anxiety. 

Steve's face fell as he also realized that the Android Avenger hadn't returned from his brutal slaughter in Wakanda five years ago. Wanda's breath hitched as her eyes filled with tears and she shuddered to her knees, Steve's silent realization was more than enough to bring her horrors to fruition. Her hands were brought to her face as she sobbed. Steve sunk to his knee, looking to Wanda at eye level. He grimaced, before bringing her into a gentle, empathetic embrace. She collapsed against him, sobbing against his shoulder. He suddenly sensed something land behind him- something aggressive. Within a second, Steve rose and delivered a punch to the being behind him.

His hand was met with a stiff material, hard and unmoving, even against his punch. He looked at the being in mild shock, only to be met with the calm face of…

"VISION!" Wanda cried, rising to her feet. Steve lowered his fist slowly and moved aside, never looking away. Wanda jumped up and wrapped her arms tightly around The Vision's neck. He embraced her equally, closing his eyes as he nuzzled into her neck. He opened his eyes and looked to Steve whispering, "Captain Rogers," He nodded in response, still processing Vision's return. From her place, Wanda tearfully confirmed, "You’re alive! You’re back!” Wanda was weeping with sorrow and joy equally for Vision, both his death and his return. “What did you dream?" She wanted to know what Vision had imagined, but she wanted to hear his own voice define and _create _his quite human affections, not just her mind accepting the facts.

Vision separated but kept Wanda within his arms. "Over the last five years, I've dreamt of nothing but having you back, I've created scenarios in my head, but they're not logical… They were emotional," He ran his artificial hands through her hair, leaving them on her cheeks. "And now, those dreams have come true… Five years of patience..." 

Wanda's face slowly became coated with desperate confusion before she asked, very slowly, "F… Five years?" Her voice was now quiet and meek as if her feelings had plummeted again as if rocks were suddenly tied to her stomach. "I've been gone for… Five years?" She asked, her face quivering with realization. Vision's face constricted itself with confusion, turning to Steve. 

"She doesn't know?" Vision turned back to Wanda, this time his expression turning to one of panic and worry. "Wanda, what do you remember?" He asked, now anxious she had forgotten more critical information. She looked back to him, her face twisting with a similar mild panic. 

"Vision, I remember everything, just not five years!" Vision sighed lightly with relief, but the worry returned as he considered this. Was it just Wanda that couldn’t recall the last five years? Had Thanos’ snap caused incurable damage? It was as Vision silently worried that Doctor Strange approached Wanda, moving his hands in odd manners and throwing off golden sparks occasionally. 

"Miss Maximoff-" He began, but was interrupted by Wanda.

"Did I know you?" She asked, her voice ingrained with worry.

Strange stopped for a moment, giving Wanda an odd look, before continuing, "No. But you did know the Infinity Stones- more specifically…" He trailed off as an entity formed from his magic appeared in his hand. It was the orange Soul Stone, round and smooth. "The Soul Stone, is known to work in an odd nature when taking a life. It retains all those who are "killed" by its power- or it's magnified power when combined with the other Stones- in a certain realm, keeping them in a comatose-like state. That's why you- nor anyone brought back from this realm- have no recollection of the time passed, yet recall fragments of dreams- because you did- in the 'Soul Realm'," With that, the false Stone evaporated from reality, with Strange wearing a very proud expression from his explanation.

Wanda sighed tediously in contemplation of her absence, as did Vision but in a soothing manner as he brought her head to his chest. He put his face to the top of her head a placed a quiet kiss.

“What did you dream, Wanda?” Vision asked in an attempt to distract Wanda from the fact she had just learned, looking up to the smoky sky as Wanda replied slowly a few moments later. Her voice was sad, broken and pitiful as she slowly answered his question.

“It was Hell, Vision. All I saw as you dying, again and again, your body lying on the ground dead,” She was beginning to tear up again as her horrible memories returned. Her memories of Thanos brutally tearing out Vision’s stone with no remorse as she watched helplessly, of Vision’s broken body grey and faded with his forehead caved in, and of fading away gratefully having nothing else to live for. Vision quickly apologized by bringing Wanda close to him, hearing her try to sniff the tears back. Steve smiled sadly at the affection before turning to Doctor Strange, leaving the witch and the robot to their own.

"How is everyone?" It was a simple question, yet carried a surprising answer from the wizard.

"I don't know." Steve turned to him, before clarifying with a somewhat joking tone.

"Tony told me you could see the future. Guess this isn't the future," Strange hummed dismissively, before adding to the Captain's joke seriously.

"Not the future I saw," Strange said mysteriously. "I saw over fourteen million futures, and in only one were we victorious against Thanos. But this… This seems like a victory, and I didn't foresee this," He sighed. Steve looked away in contemplation. 

"What happened in the one you saw?" He asked. Strange breathed a laugh of dry bitterness, before wryly replying, "Victory, but at horrible costs…" 

Steve's face distorted in morbid curiosity at the- debatably- older man's vaguity. "What costs could be worse? Danvers is dead, as is Barton, Tony's horribly wounded-" Strange cut him off.

"He died in the future I saw. As did Romanoff- in place of Barton- the Vision wasn't reconstructed, which I still have to inquire about that and- oh, you shaved your beard, among other oddities," Steve scoffed at the notion of his beard being shaven, appreciating it too much to remove it. It was a silent moment before he asked,

"Wait, so how is Vision back, since he knows it's been five years?" Strange shook his head dismissively, the knowledge being beyond the wizard. Steve then left the man to contemplate the realities he was within as he trudged towards Ant-Man and the recovering Wasp. Scott looked to him, nodding as Hope’s eyes opened and she gasped. Hank and Janet breathed sighs of relief, as did Scott. 

“Hope, that was an impressive fight,” Steve commended, crouching down to her laying form. She smiled at him, before turning to Scott with a weak smirk. “Thanks, Cap,” Scott scoffed lightly as his girlfriend used the nickname of the legendary Captain America for a second time now, despite mocking it five years ago- for him and Hope, it had been almost a day ago, maybe, but for everyone else, it had been back in 2018. She smiled, before closing her eyes and sighing in minute pain. She then used Scott’s steady arm to sit up. 

The wings on the back of her suit were ragged, torn and broken, only one still functional enough to twitch sadly. She sighed, realizing she needed to reconstruct them when she was healthy enough. 

“Dammit,” It was then that Vision slowly descended from above with Wanda in his arms. She had since fallen asleep, most likely due to the exertion of her powers and her high-running emotions.

"Captain, where are we to stay now that the Facility is gone?" It was a simple question with an answer more complicated than a twenty-sided Rubix cube. Steve looked down, rubbing his left hand through his beard in thought. Vision looked at the broken shield in shock. "Captain, your shield…" Steve looked to the broken disc, the white star in the center just barely managing to remain whole. As Steve stared at the shield, an idea bubbled up, but one he couldn't exactly confirm yet.

"I don't know, Vision, but we'll find something… I promise," He finished, looking to the Android Avenger as he looked to the sleeping Maximoff woman in his strong arms. She looked comfortable, safe… Alive, not threatened any further by the Mad Titan Thanos. None of them were. For the first time in five years, they could finally sit and reel to terms with all of those they lost to the monster and find peace.

They would recover.

**Benetar**

Thor walked into the spaceship, meeting with Mantis' huge space-like eyes. She was fidgeting with her hands as she looked at the other Guardians. Drax seemed to have her attention more than the others, even though he was standing still and eating a bag of some sort of chip incredibly slowly behind Rocket and Groot. Mantis turned her head and her antennae began glowing white as she stared at Thor.

"Hello, Thor. You did decide to join us?" She smiled as Thor nodded. Rocket and Groot turned to Thor, Groot waving to Thor, who returned the gesture. Quill was occupied heavily with a screen, paying close attention to numbers- numbers that appeared to be coordinates- and locations, most likely he was searching for his absent green-skinned girlfriend. Thor moved to lay his bag on the table nearby but instead placed it on the floor underneath when he realized there was some of Rocket's equipment on the face. He waved to Rocket, who nodded to him as he tinkered with something. He came up to Quill and began to speak.

"Asgardians of the Galaxy, back together again, eh?" He asked. Quill gave a distracted note of confirmation as he searched for Gamora. Thor asked him, "Can I talk to you, Quill?" He was quiet, almost as if he was embarrassed. Quill turned to him, distracted by his unusual tone. 

"Yeah sure, what's up Thor?" He was quick and anxious, Thor could tell, so he tried to extend his point quickly. "Um, look. I didn't mean to be such a dick back in 2018. I… I was still just really mad at Thanos and I wanted to kill him. I didn't mean to steal your crew, or become their captain… Okay, look. I used to want to be king at everything, but recently, I've realized that I..." He paused and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I don't want to be king," He paused, looking down as Quill nodded slowly. He cleared his throat before continuing.

"I want to join your crew, but not as a leader. I'm done leading. So, if you'll have me…" Thor trailed off, looking back up to Quill. He looked confused but contemplational. As Quill met eyes with Thor, he smiled and stuck out his right hand. Thor laughed quietly and shook Quill's hand happily. 

It was then that Thor felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned, and he met eyes with his brother, Loki. He looked solemn, but happy at the same time. "Hello, brother," He said scratchily. Thor looked at him before he turned back to Peter. 

"Is he coming as well?" Thor asked. Quill nodded with a smirk before Thor turned back. He smiled as he pulled Loki into an embrace. Loki laughed as he embraced his brother in turn. “I knew you’d come around, Loki.”

“As did I, brother, "Loki legitimately and honestly at Thor's genuine happiness.

"As did I.”

**To Be Continued…**


	3. Chapter II: Reconciliation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A week after Thanos' loss, the Avengers find themselves at a loos of housing. Pepper begrudgingly helps them, believing it would be what her befallen husband would want. Will this housing help the Avengers regain a solid footing, or will it be a false footing?  
Only Time will tell...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A fair warning, there's not too much action or conflict, mainly it's setting up the future. Apologies as well for the late upload, I had some very last minute ideas. Enjoy regardless.

**Avengers: Reforged II: After The Victory**

**Earth- 199 621, 2019**

**Eddie’s Apartment**

Eddie Brock keyed open his apartment and threw down his bag. He sighed with minor exhaustion, clearly from exercise as his shirt was stained around the neck and under his arms with sweat. He had just returned from the gym, and as he looked at his watch he sighed again. He headed towards his bedroom, and as he opened the door, he flipped on the light switch. The small room was suddenly flooded with orange light as he reached into the second door of his faded wood dresser. Rather absentmindedly, he grabbed a moss-green t-shirt. He slowly peeled off his current gey t-shirt and threw it into a small pile of his other dirty clothes. As he tugged the rather tight shirt on he began thinking of something that had his mind enraptured since over a year ago now. 

Venom’s death. 

He and Eddie had just been reading a magazine before, suddenly, poof. Venom had disintegrated into dust. Eddie had looked it up, and people from all over the globe had been experiencing the exact same things. People had just randomly turned into grey ash- Hell, not even just people. Friends, strangers, pets, wild animals, even the occasional house plant just evaporated just as Venom had. Since then, the Avengers had released news. Apparently, the cause of ‘The Vanishing’- which was the official name given to the disaster, as well as the title of the lives claimed- was a super-alien named Thanos collecting six omnipotent space rocks and snapping his fingers somewhere in the hyper-advanced African kingdom Wakanda that had opened its borders about three years ago.

Eddie scoffed as he recalled the name. Thanos, what kind of name was Thanos? Even if he was an alien, what kind of parent thought ‘Thanos’ was a good name? Upon thinking of the word alien, Eddie’s mind fell to another space-alien with a weird name.

‘Venom,’ He thought. His face fell as Venom came to mind again, but this time in a longing way. Eddie missed Venom so goddamn much. Luckily, Anne had survived ‘The Vanishing’, so he wasn’t entirely alone, but life still sucked without Venom. Sometimes it was the powers he missed, but it was mostly Venom himself. His conversation, his presence, his smart-ass remarks, he missed the whole thing. Eddie turned around and leaned his back against his dresser, hearing the drawer close under him. He brought his phone out of his pocket and opened the camera roll, looking back a year's time. Almost every picture had Venom over his shoulder or materialized into the photo another way.

One of his favourites was one he had tried to take professionally, but Venom had rested his little snake-like head materialization on the top of Eddie’s head like a cat. Looking at the picture again, Eddie smiled forlornly. He checked his watch again before he exited his room and made his way to the kitchen before sitting down at a small, round wooden table with a worn laptop on it. 

Open was some writing software with his most recent journalized entry of ‘The Brock Report’ covering the updated news on The Vanishing. He had written it over the course of three or four weeks and now it lay on his drive, ready to be released yet still restrained for one simple reason.

He _hated_ it. 

Everything in the stupid article reminded him of his best friend that would never be seen again. 

It began rather tamely, with the usual introduction and quips written in, but when the news of Vanishing began to become prevalent, the style of writing became depressed, almost suicidal in the way he lamented being one of the fifty percent to survive the disaster. The biggest thing he wrote about was how he could relate to anyone affected, talking solely of Venom yet not mentioning his name.

Goddammit, he missed that alien.

**Three Years Later…**

Eddie Brock rested drunkenly on the worn couch within his apartment, an unknown number of empty beers beside him on the floor haphazardly. Over the last three years, so much had happened.

First thing that had happened was Eddie’s depression had won over him, from all kinds of sources; Anne had been paralyzed after a murder attempt just a few days after Eddie had published the article about the Vanishing, Venom was still dead despite every wish he had, the murder rate had gone up exponentially within San Francisco, but it was the most recent news Eddie became aware of just a month ago that was fueling this specific period.

Brain cancer. 

He had brain cancer. 

The doctor gave him only another two years to live, give or take another few months either way. Eddie laughed as he thought of it. Yes, he was laughing because yes, it was funny, it was hilarious that even since the biggest threat the universe had ever faced had succeeded, life continued to beat down upon him- continued to take everything he had; First it had been Venom, erased from reality by a space alien, then Anne, killed by some angry asshole when she had been walking back home and finally his own mind was trying to kill him. So, he gave up. There was nothing to lose, nothing to gain.

Why bother. So yes, in summary:

Funny.

As Eddie allowed his head to fall back against the couch he breathed hard and allowed his mind to slowly fall back to Venom. He was the only one Eddie could think of, and Eddie hated that. Why not Anne? Why not his wife? Why a random space symbiote being that had latched itself to him on a whim? 

Because Venom was everything more to him than anyone else.

He loved Anne, he always would, but he and Venom shared something, something that couldn’t even be described by English. It was such a primal, mysterious feeling. It was love, but not the kind you give a wife, or a parent or sibling, nor any other he could think, it was more. More than… Just more. Eddie laughed again as he thought of the connection between him and his dead friend. The more he tried to explain it the more he hated the sound of it.

Funny.

As Eddie took another pitiful drink from the bottle in his hand he realized the bottle was mysteriously and enragingly empty when all he got was air. Anger quickly took him over and he chucked the bottle at the wall opposite him. He expected it to hit the wall with a great crash as he put his head in his hands and leaned forward. But, it didn’t.

After a moment of waiting, Eddie looked up. The bottle he had just despondently thrown was in a hand, being studied under a careful eye. He followed the hand to a body, his lip shaking when his dying brain realized who it was. It was impossible, absolutely and entirely impossible.

The arm holding the bottle was thick and sturdy, as was the body it was connected to. The body was sculpted and strong, with a bulky frame built for protection. The eyes on the head were a pure milk-white, glistening in the light coming through Eddie’s open window. The being smiled happily, revealing sharp dagger-like yellowed teeth. The skin of the being was an inky black, with the superficial appearance of thick slime. The figure was tall, perhaps seven feet. As Eddie sat and stared in shock, the being began shrinking down to a small ball. The ball then shot right at Eddie’s chest and entered his body.

Eddie collapsed onto the couch as the being began working its way into him. Eddie’s breathing was rapid and shallow as his brain failed to comprehend what just happened. He forced it to function, and the only feeling he could quantify within his being was desperation.

“V… Venom?” Eddie asked, voice quiet and broken. Venom was back. How. His mind was failing to react, simply crashing with realization when Venom whispered brokenly,

“Cancer?” Eddie immediately felt horrible hearing Venom’s usually intimidating and gravelly voice gentle and crushed. Venom slowly materialized from his shoulder, his usually cocky face broken and sad. Eddie’s lip quivered before he nodded and answered,

“Brain. I got uh... I got two years left, maybe,” Venom physically recoiled from the response, before shaking his head and looking back to Eddie. His expression hardened as he dove back into Eddie. The man sat in guilty silence for a few minutes until Venom reemerged with a look of… Joy? The best way he could describe the look on the alien’s face was like when something you’ve built works without a hitch on the first try.

“Not anymore. I’m here, Eddie,” Venom smiled, genuinely and relieved. "I will keep you safe," Eddie stared at Venom with a look of amazement, physically unable to formulate a reply. His eyes began to well up with tears of the greatest gratitude he had ever experienced. Venom smiled wider as Eddie slowly began crying. He wrapped his arms around Venom’s materialization and pulled him tight. Venom reciprocated gently by nuzzling into Eddie’s shoulder. They both sat there for hours until Eddie fell asleep from exhaustion. Venom curled up in his arms and slept with him, just like how he used to five years ago.

Venom was back.

**Rebuilt Quantum Tunnel, 2023**

Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes were gathered around a smaller version of the Quantum Tunnel that had resided within the Avengers Facility a few days ago. Banner was quickly working on the control panel before he began speaking. "Okay, Rogers, Remember, you have to return all six Stones to the exact place we got 'em. Or else we're gonna have opened a bunch of nasty alternate realities," Steve smiled as he closed a briefcase with six Stones. He stood and turned back to Banner.

"Don't worry, Bruce. Clip all the branches," He picked up the briefcase and walked onto the portal. Already resting on the portal was Thor's 2013 version of Mjolnir. Hs took hold of the hammer's ornate handle, both of his hands now full. Bruce continued brushing keys and flipping levers, calibrating the quantum tunnel to the correct settings for this mission. Suddenly, he slowed and stopped. Steve, Sam and Bucky looked over to the silent Banner, who in turn looked up to Steve.

"You know, I don't think we tried," He spoke despondently. Steve raised an eyebrow, a silent signal that allowed him to continue. "When we had the Gauntlet… The Stones… We didn't even try to bring him back…" Banner trailed off, shaking his head in disappointment. Disappointment in himself and Hulk for not even once thinking to attempt to bring Barton back. "I still miss him, though…"

Steve nodded understandingly. Perhaps, in another reality where Natasha was the one who gave her life for the Soul Stone, Bruce would have tried to bring her back, even at the cost of himself. But, Steve knew internally that even if Hulk had tried to revive Clint it wouldn't have worked. 

"You know, if you want, I can come with you," Sam quickly changed the rather awkward subject as he offered and stepped closer to the portal. Bucky gave a quizzical smile behind the man's back. Steve smiled as he set the briefcase down and slowly stepped off the tunnel's entrance. He walked and embraced Sam before commenting kindly, "You're a good man, Sam. But this one's on me," As Sam nodded with a well-disguised grimace.

It was then that Steve looked over Sam's shoulder to see Bucky, the man that had fueled Steve's entire system not a week ago now leaned against a tree absentmindedly, his once questioning expression now one that was deep in contemplational thought. Steve approached the metal-armed man as he shook himself out of his trance and looked into Rogers' eyes. His expression seemed indifferent, but Steve knew Bucky well enough to see under the facade. He was worried, what about was a mystery, however. Steve shook off the rising question before telling him,

"Don't do anything stupid until I get back." Bucky smiled as his eighty-year-old line was taken. In turn, he stole Steve's and replied, "How can I? You're takin' all the stupid with you," Steve smiled as he hugged Bucky. Bucky hugged him back, keeping the embrace for a few seconds. 

"I'm gonna miss you, Steve," He spoke with a desperate finality, sounding almost like he was worried Steve wouldn't return. Steve separated from their embrace. As Steve looked into Bucky's brown eyes he assured him, "I'm coming back, Buck," In a show of false, vain comfort Bucky forced an obviously fake smile. Steve patted his friend's biological shoulder before fatefully returning to the peak of the quantum tunnel. 

Rogers tapped the Time-Space-GPS on his left wrist which caused the immaculately white-and-red Quantum suit to begin crawling onto his skin and over his usual costume. As the suit enveloped his chest, the hard plastic became emblazoned with a sharp five-pointed star with a harsh edge down the center of all five legs of the star. Steve took hold of the briefcase with the Stones as well as Miolnir's handle.

"So, how long is this gonna take?" Sam asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Bruce smiled as he flipped the last switch, the portal now ready to return Steve to times past.

"For him, as long as he needs. For us; Five seconds," Sam nodded as if he understood, but truly he was all the more confused. Steve nodded readily to Bucky as Banner brushed a few more keys until there was a click followed immediately by a low, shivering hum.

"Going quantum in three… two… one-" There was a bright flash as Steve shrunk down and disappeared. Sam and Bucky looked in slight amazement in Steve's absence. Not even three seconds later, Bruce began counting down again. "And returning in five… four… three…"

Bucky and Sam began staring at the portal, Bucky with a well-masked sad stare. He knew Steve wouldn't return. Call it a hunch, a guess, whatever the most accurate definition was, his gut- his deepest, most primal brain whispered truth of Steve remaining back in time. Sam, however, had no such instinct, instead blindly believing in Steve's goodness, hopefully begging for him to come back empty-handed. But Bucky knew.

"Two…" Why was he so angry? Not at Steve, not by a long shot, but at Sam. At Sam for having such faith, such hope buried within a man he hardly knew, a man who had only known him nine years! He had known him for nearer to ninety! Samuel Wilson had no right to have such blind faith within a man he had not a single inkling of!

"One!" Sam perked up in expectation as Bucky relaxed against the tree dejectedly. He let his anger towards Sam's stupid optimism go as the reality of Steve's absence set in. Steve had stayed in the past, probably living out a life with Peggy. He and Bucky had talked about it some nights on Skype when he was recovering in Wakanda, that if Steve ever had the chance to live out a life with Peggy, he would.

Expectedly, Sam and Bruce were confused at Steve’s absence. “Where is he?” Sam asked, his voice rising frantically ever so slightly. Banner began working on the controls in an effort to bring back Steve. “I don’t know, he blew right by his timestamp- He should be here!” Sam looked back to the blank portal and continued arguing with Bruce, but Bucky stood back and let the reality settle in.

Steve had left them. Left them to fend for themselves and-

The portal pushed out a giant mass onto the floor of the tunnel. Sam and Banner recoiled in surprise while Bucky jumped up into a fighting stance. He raised his metal arm, ready to pummel whatever just emerged into their timeline. It was then that a gloved hand shot up in defence, along with a quick, "Wait!" The hand was covered in a leather glove with hard plastic on the knuckles and back of the palm.

“Steve?” Bucky asked, staring at his friend on the floor of the portal. Steve was hunched over on something, painfully reflecting whenever he tried to save others from a grenade by laying on it. He rolled off of the other… person? Under Rogers’ muscular body lay a small yet lithe and athletic brunette, passed out from- most likely- surprise. She wore an army-green uniform with an open collar that had two identical golden emblems on the hood of the collar fold, a sharply-folded white shirt and dark hazel tie underneath. Around her waist was a belt of the same colour, hugging the jacket tightly around her, four golden buttons leading down the front, the third one down hidden under the belt. At the apex of her hips, the jacket cut off and under lay a green skirt that ended at her knees. She wore intimidating brown heels as well, however, she looked oddly small in Steve’s arms.

“Who the hell is that?” Sam asked, looking confusedly at the rather tall woman- she looked just a few inches shorter than himself. Steve looked to him with an exuberantly amazed smiled, before responding,

“Gentlemen, meet Margeret Carter. Peggy.”

**Tony's Hospital, 2023**

Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff and Bruce Banner, alongside Tony's wife Pepper and their young daughter Morgan were all gathered around the comatose Tony Stark. He was hooked up to all manner of medical machines, producing all sorts of noises. An oxygen mask covered the bottom half of his face and IV drips ran in and out of his arms. His left arm, as well as the left side of his neck and a small bit of his face was raw and cooked, his arm shrivelled, thin and weak. The doctors had discussed amputating the unfortunately now-useless limb. For the first time since his return to Earth after losing to Thanos five years ago, Tony looked weak, frail, ready to expire. He was breathing steady, but they were slow and shallow, almost as if he were scared to breathe, scared to survive.

Steve sighed and looked down. He had always put up a strong front of stoicism and iron-clad emotion but in reality, he was scared. He was surely scared for Tony, the man whose life he had apparently saved. It had been almost subconscious. He had seen Tony sitting there, the Stones in hand, ready to snap…

**The Battlefield**

Steve managed to break away from the Outriders just in time to see Tony tackle Thanos. Rogers quickly looked around, singling out Hulk, Romanoff, Thor and Loki. He rushedly spoke through his communicator,

“Hulk, Nat, Thor, on Stark now,” They all broke away from their fighting and began making their way to Tony. Hulk leapt over a Chitauri Gorilla to reach Natasha. He gently scooped up the red-to-blonde before gingerly leaping to Stark’s side. Thor nodded to his brother as they began moving towards the threatened man in their own ways- Thor carving through the Chitauri and Outriders alike, smashing his way through some with Mjolnir, chopping others in half with Stormbreaker and frying everything else with his white-hot lightning. Loki was stealthily running through the army, cloning himself and turning hollow as required as well as occasionally stabbing some of the enemies with fine, secretive daggers. They reached Tony at the same time as Hulk and Natasha. Steve used his Super-Soldier strength to leap over and bounce off everything that tried to grab him. By now, Tony had been punched away by Thanos, who resettled the gauntlet upon his gigantic hand Stark had tried to pull off. He readied his fingers to Snap as he arrogantly whispered, 

"I am…" His fingers tensed up to snap, the glowing Stones turned away from him. His face became decorated with cocky pride as he prepared to reset the world.

"Inevitable." The world froze with tension as Thanos snapped his fingers... With only a hollow, metallic clang that contained next to no reverberation. Thanos then looked confusedly at his Gauntlet before turning over his hand. The sockets were…

Empty. 

Tony raised his hand as the left hand of his nanobot suit reconfigured to support the six Stones. They clamped down into the newly formed sockets, causing six overlapping streams of colour-saturated energy to begin coursing over his suit, luckily being majorly absorbed as it peeled away the metal microtechnology in its path. He recoiled from the power but quickly steadied. He smiled to Thanos as he whispered,

"And I… Am…"

It was then that Steve slapped Tony on the right shoulder, holding his broken shield surely. The energy began flowing through him as well, his entire system embracing the multicoloured light. Tony looked to him in modest shock before Steve nodded gallantly through the minute pain of Stones as it withered to a steady feeling. Natasha mirrored his action and placed her hand on Tony's right shoulder, her body also reacting to the energy. She was supported by Hulk, who gave her one of his fingers to hold onto, barely reacting as it was also translated to him. Thor and Loki approached Steve's right. They nodded before joining hands in a loving, brotherly alliance as Loki put his hand on Steve's shoulder. The two gods were affected far less than their mortal teammates but were affected nonetheless.

Tony looked to his team with a look of sheer appreciation and admiration, directing his look to Steve, who nodded before whispering,

“I’m with you, Tony,” Natasha, Hulk, Thor and Loki agreed silently as Tony turned back to Thanos. He shook his head to Thanos and shouted. “We… Are…" Tony sighed after a moment as he readied himself for the pain of the Snap.

"The Avengers!”

**Hospital**

Steve had used every ounce of his strength to stand, but the physical push wasn't what had drained him. Not the pushing, not the standing, Hell, not even the Snap itself was as draining as the memory that had shot through his mind when he felt the burning work itself onto his arm in the white flash.

Bucky. His death back in 2018. The Vanishing. Why was that memory the one that had rushed him? Why not the plane crash? Why not Bucky's other death eighty years ago when he fell off the train? Steve sighed as his mind remained unrelenting on the topic, attracting Natasha's attention. She looked at him sadly but didn't say anything, instead turning back to Tony’s body after a moment. She settled into Bruce’s arms gingerly, a stark contrast of her usual super-assassin disposition.

Steve knew the mental queries of his memories were redundant, he knew why Bucky's second death had been the memory that very well could have been his last. Because Bucky was all he had left of an old life until a few days ago, and the way he had just disappeared was almost a mockery of how much effort was put into keeping him alive; HYDRA’s- much as he disliked admitting it- his own, Nick Fury’s, even the monarch of Wakanda was mocked as Bucky died so easily. 

But the largest reason was emotion, Bucky was the only thing Steve had to remind him of what was left behind when the plane crashed, and he would fight anyone and everyone to defend that, defend him. But now…

The door to the hospital slowly opened silently as Wanda Maximoff and The Vision entered, Wanda carrying a clean bunch of red and yellow flowers inside a small glass vase. Vision had changed the colouring and patterning of his skin to be more human, even going so far as to wear a baseball hat to conceal the synthetic Mind Stone recreation in his head and dark-tinted sunglasses to obscure his unchangeable mechanical eyes. They both looked sadly at Tony's unconscious form before Wanda set the flowers down on a nearby table, out of the way with the rest of the cards and gifts. Wanda then slowly walked up to Steve and whispered,

"Peggy's outside, by the way," Her accent was thicker than usual and her voice sounded hoarse. She returned to Vision and leaned against him, staring at Tony softly. For the first time in a long time, she didn't look like she wanted to kill him, to destroy him. In fact, she looked… Apologetic. She felt bad for his state, obviously warming up to Stark. Steve nodded to himself before nudging his way past Natasha, Bruce, Wanda and Vision. He looked at Tony again as he opened the door. He smiled as he wished his friend well. He turned and exited, slowly closing the door behind him. Peggy was across the hall in a blue fabric chair, absorbed in an old magazine from his collection. 

As she looked up to him her face was full mourning and melancholy, even though she didn't know Tony. Yet she did. Before Steve had stolen her from her own time, she had worked with Howard Stark, who told her all of his son despite his outwardly cold nature towards him.

Peggy was dressed in one of Wanda's sundresses overtop a black camisole. Her legs were bare but she wore black flats. When she stood to meet Steve she smoothed out the dress and began wringing her hands, unable to look Rogers in the face. Steve crossed the hall in one stride and gently embraced her, Peggy still evading his gaze by pretending to be interested in the brown leather jacket over his bulky frame.

“Peggy, what’s wrong?” Steve queried gently, pulling her close with his arms draping lovingly around her, circling her fine waist. The woman met his eyes, her dark olive orbs sparkling with worry. Wordlessly he took her into an embrace that she readily accepted. They stood there in noiseless bliss, allowing time to melt around them. Neither could tell how much time had passed when Wanda interrupted them by tapping Steve on the shoulder. She, Vision, Natasha and Bruce were leaving the hospital, offering Peggy and Steve to follow.

**Quinjet**

Steve, Peggy, Natasha, Bruce, Wanda and Vision were aboard an updated Avengers Quinjet as they flew through the air on the way to Wakanda. Very fortunately, King T’Challa had allowed them to take refuge within his country, but they wanted to be out as soon as possible. Wakanda had done plenty more than enough for them; Curing Bucky’s brainwashing, assistance during the Sokovia Accords Hunt, allowing them the use of Vibranium technology, now refuge due to the Facility’s destruction a few days ago. It was all gratefully accepted, but the Avengers had to be able to support themselves.

Loki, Thor, Rhodey, Sam and the rest were all back in Wakanda, awaiting the five's return so some others could depart and wish Tony well within the hospital. Shuri- the super-genius princess of Wakanda- had analyzed Tony and found nothing wrong physically, part his arm and the slight but repairable burning of his neck. Technically, he should wake up within the week, but comas were still dangerous and mysterious, even in the presence of the medical incredibility of Wakanda. 

Steve stole his gaze away from the front window as Peggy sighed from his shoulder, passed out in a light sleep. The Quinjet was quite fast, but it was still a few hours between New York and the hidden African country. Bruce and Natasha were seated across from them, whispering things inaudible, but Steve could guess it was good when Natasha subconsciously gave a toothy smile as Bruce whispered something in her ear. 

Wanda had fallen asleep almost as soon as they took off, laid across two and a half seats as well as Vision's lap. He was lovingly stroking her brown locks as she released deep, peaceful breaths. Vision smiled as he skillfully leaned down and kissed her cheek without disturbing her. 

Steve returned his gaze to the front of the plane watching as the Quinjet glided through the air, guided by the careful, calculated abilities of FRIDAY, Tony’s AI assistant ever since Sokovia. They were about ten minutes away from Wakanda from his estimation, so he carefully put Peggy against the seat, keeping her in rest. He stood up and got closer to the window. Below he saw the luscious green trees and sparse yellow plains of Africa below slowly scrolled past the window. Eventually, FRIDAY announced,

"We're now approaching Wakanda, Captain. Yeh may want to wake up everyone," Steve nodded absentmindedly before quietly giving thanks to the Irish AI. He quietly took his seat next to Peggy again and gently shook her small shoulder. She opened her eyes quickly, almost as if she hadn't been sleeping. He whispered to her,

"We're almost to Wakanda, maybe five more minutes," Peggy nodded tiredly and shook herself awake. Cap brushed by Bruce and Nat and came up to Vision, telling him they were close to landing. The android nodded slowly before beginning to wake Wanda. 

Steve slowly felt the Quinjet descend onto the pad just outside of the Vibranium mine. Almost like a giddy child, he took a look out of the window into the mine. Deep inside complicated machinery moved around and sped by, surrounded by the otherworldly night-blue glow of the raw Vibranium. He smiled as a long supersonic train guided by white-lit panels ran by, carrying hundreds- if not thousands- of pounds of the super-metal.

The jet landed with suspended recoil upon the surface, with Vision and Wanda waiting by the large door at the back of the plane. It slowly opened, allowing the shimmering Wakandan light into the artificially-lit ship. Together they departed, followed by Bruce and Natasha. Steve and Peggy followed shortly thereafter, leaving the jet empty as FRIDAY closed the gate behind them.

Shuri, the genius inventor princess, greeted them, dressed in casual clothes. Behind her was Bucky and Rhodey, who were both passed by Natasha, Bruce, Vision and Wanda as they were on their way to the barracks that were their temporary quarters. Bucky waved to Steve while Rhodey stood still with crossed arms and a worried expression, anxious about the status of his friend.

“How is he?” He asked as he looked to Steve, who shook his head disparagingly. Rhodey grimaced but nodded slowly. Almost subconsciously, he began a preoccupied with thought trek back to the barracks, following the other four slowly. Shuri was silent for a moment before Bucky carefully broke it.

“Shuri wanted to show you something, Steve,” Rogers nodded as he turned his gaze to the princess, who half-smiled. She nodded for the three to follow them. Peggy peered down the hole of the mine, staring in wonder at the shimmering blue metal embedded within the walls of the bottomless hole. She quickly caught up to the two super-soldiers and the surprisingly fast-walking princess as a falcon-like ship settled in front of them. Shuri quickly entered, followed by Steve, Bucky and Peggy. The ship glided over the hole of the mine before beginning a surprisingly fast descent.

The small air vehicle- powered by interestingly quiet Vibranium engines- hit a small pad, allowing the four to exit. They then entered Shuri's deceptively large laboratory, filled with prototypes and designs of clothing, miscellaneous technology, and a surprisingly increased amount of weapon designs. She casually- almost too casually- brisked by the dangerous-looking prototypes and approached two others on black, crystalline pedestals with special tags in front.

The leftmost design was a pair of twin diamond-shaped thick black plates, with ornate silver lines bolstering the surfaces further. They were clearly updated versions of the shields Rogers had used during the Thanos Attack of 2018, but larger in size, more silver decorations and thicker altogether. The plate in front of it was labelled, 'Cpt. Rogers'. Beside it on the left was a prosthetic; a left arm with a ‘Sgt. Barnes’ plate in front. Unlike every other artificial arm Bucky had used, it was designed to perfectly emulate human flesh and muscle, disturbingly realistic.

“I have consulted with my brother and he proposed that since your shield broke, Captain, that you be allowed to temporarily use these shields," Steve nodded unsurely, not moving from his position beside Peggy. Shuri groaned and picked up one of the shields. She somewhat struggled to lift the left-handed plate but managed to throw it to Rogers, who caught it effortlessly. As the defensive tool flew it folded into itself in a blink and Steve slipped it on at Shuri’s silent behest. It was small in its new form, about the width of Rogers’ wrist. But, when a button on the side of the tight strap, it extended with a hydraulic blast of sound, like an air-pop gun. At its full size, the shield was about two-thirds of a meter long, a fair amount larger than the previous version of the diamond-shaped shields.

Steve admired the new shield as Shuri began speaking to Bucky.

"And Searge- Bucky- I have made a prototype. This prosthetic arm for you, to replace the one you are currently using. While it is a prototype, the final design will be much more comprehensive and accurate,” While Shuri spoke, Bucky approached the arm in quiet amazement. Indeed, it was almost perfect- the texture, the warmth, the essence was beautiful. He ran his right hand along the false bicep in silent admiration of her work. He looked back up to her shaking his head.

"No, I can't take this or the updated one." Bucky's left fist tightened, and it would have gone almost completely unnoticed by him if it wasn't for a quick flick of his brown eyes. It was hard to miss Shuri's surprise and disappointment but she nodded shortly, however, Bucky continued hurriedly with a look of realization and, "But I know someone who can." All four present within the lab looked to him with slight looks of questioning before near-simultaneous realizations hit.

Tony.

**Barracks**

Wanda, Vision, Steve and Bruce were gathered around a small table, debating where they would stay now that the Facility was destroyed. For now, they were within Wakanda, but they all knew that it would be better to move out before they overstayed their welcome, despite T'Challa's kind assertions of impossibility in that regard. They had been arguing their lodgings for damn well over two hours now. Wanda was holding her head with a small headache, Vision comforting her and occasionally adding or rebutting. Steve and Bruce were arguing with each other wholeheartedly yet with understandings, acting as a devil's advocate for the other's ideas.

Wanda spoke up with an idea, “What if we go underground-” She used her thin fingers to make quotations- “like Vision and I did?” Rogers nodded towards her consideringly, as did Vision. Bruce, however, shook his head. Vision looked to him as if to ask what he was considering

“No dice,” He responded, “Even if half of us find other places to live, that’s still six or seven people to keep in one place for as long as it’ll take to rebuild the Facility,” Vision was slightly taken aback at Banner’s nonchalant mention of their destroyed home.

“The Facility is indeed being reconstructed?” He asked, Wanda nodded to his question. Steve looked to Banner and wordlessly ushered him to answer.

“Yeah, Pepper’s gettin’ Stark Industries’ best guys on it, but even then it’ll take damn well near three years. It’s not gonna be easy to find residence for all of us,” As he finished, Steve’s brow furrowed.

“How many have homes?” Bruce was confused at the question, his expression asking Steve to elaborate. “You said ‘even if half of us find places,’ but some of use already have places. Who had a place already?” Bruce nodded in understanding, before turning to the whiteboard behind him. He opened a black marker and scribbled down the word, ‘Home’. 

“Scott, Hope,” He began.

“Sam, Rhodey,” Steve added. Bruce also added Tony, Pepper and Strange.

“Thor and Loki are with the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Miss Valkyrie is within New Asgard- perhaps we could go there?” Vision added. Steve shook his head.

“They don’t have enough places. They only built what they needed,” Vision nodded, looking to Banner’s list instead. “Now, let’s make a list of all those we have to relocate,” Banner began another list on the other side of the board labelled, ‘Find’. He added himself, the Captain, Romanoff- who was currently asleep in a room down the hall- Wanda and Vision. He turned back to the other, offering for them to add to the list.

“Bucky,” Steve added in a small voice. “Peggy.” Bruce scrawled out the names then capped the marker with a click. The list was comprehensive enough for now, but it was then that the rather old phone in Steve's pocket began ringing. He quickly exited the room as the other continued listing names and giving ideas. Steve looked at the number, quickly identifying it as Pepper's. Immediately, his mind went into overdrive with panic.

Was it about Tony? Had he taken a turn for the worse? What had happened? He quickly answered and asked, "Pepper, what happened? Is Tony okay?" Pepper was silent for a moment, unwittingly allowing Steve's despair to grow.

"Tony's fine- still not… Cognisant, but he's stable. But Cap, you need to get your team together," Steve's brain path suddenly whiplashed from Tony to his team. 

"Pepper, you know that's not possible right now. We can't fight- not in the state some of us are in," What threat had possibly emerged now that required the whole team? Most of which was unavailable anyway; Natasha and Wanda were still majorly reeling from Clint's death just over a week ago, as was Rhodey for Danvers', Lang and Van Dyne were reconciling and catching up with Scott's daughter Cassie and God help anyone who interrupted that, Tony was still in hospital- No, it was just impossible, or it would be next to. 

"No, Steve," Her voice sounded sharp and impatient, almost vindictive, "I mean tell them to pack up their stuff." Steve remained silent, the quiet over the line ushering Potts to expand on ber words. "I found somewhere for you. You know that old Stark warehouse in Queens- where we had to put the Mark Forty-Nine a few years ago?" Steve's brain made the connection as Pepper spoke.

"Wait, you packed that up?" Pepper gave a note of confirmation as Steve thought. If Pepper had actually repurposed the facility then that certainly made some things easier. 

"Yeah, some of Stark's best people got it fully cleared out." Pepper tacked on quickly. Steve's snarky smile at her sudden addition apparently translated through the phone as the woman on the other end was tensely silent. 

"What about Stark's best girl?" Steve asked slyly, pressuring Pepper to complete her unfinished answer. She was silent for a moment before she cracked and admitted with a rather frustrated tone,

"Alright fine, the Mark Eighty-Four was a huge help during clean-up. Happy?" Steve smiled and thanked Pepper before she hung up. He blew out a sigh and leaned against the wall. He debilitated the fact that they now had some effective housing. He smiled before re-entering the room, attracting the attention of the other three.

"Bruce, erase it," He spoke. Banner looked to him confusedly before looking back to the two lists. Vision and Wanda also looked to him with odd looks, coaxing him to elaborate. 

"Captain Rogers?" Vision asked warily. Steve smiled.

**Queens, New York**

Once again the Avengers Quinjet shot through the air. Inside was Rogers, Banner, a drowsy Romanoff, Maximoff, Rhodes, Barnes, Carter and Vision. They were currently above Queens, New York, quickly approaching the land zone for the old warehouse. As the slowing air vehicle slowed and breached through the clouds, Downtown Queens came into view. It was populated heavily, with thick hordes of people moving like viscous jelly through the establishments. The Quinjet passed over building and people, casting a faint shadow and attracting many gazes.

The buildings suddenly broke off into a more industrial area, with factories and warehouses instead of markets and shops. Among the other warehouses appeared a building with the signature red 'A' inside a circle of the Avengers. It was rather crudely painted atop a sunbleached roof, however one word still remained under the 'A'.

'STARK'. It had been another Stark warehouse from the seventies, but it had definitely not been modernized and updated like the Facility had- it could be told from the dark disposition of the walls and the dusty, unused appearance. But, it would have to do. 

The Quinjet passed over the warehouse to a large concrete runway. The jet slowly descended under the landing equipment touched down and the engines quieted. The Avengers emerged from the jet, each carrying a box of their belongings. They weren’t too large, nor were they at all heavy. Being an Avenger was rather perilous, and personal attacks- as proved by The Mandarin, Thanos, and even Scott Lang to a certain degree- were a very real possibility, and therefore everyone that had chosen to live within the facility- that wasn’t Tony Stark who owned thirteen separate houses just for every day of the week- hadn’t owned too much. 

Steve spearheaded the group, a small box held under his right arm. He approached the door, when a sudden sonic boom from high above dully echoed. They all looked up, shielding their eyes from the sun. Pepper- dressed in her purple suit- slammed onto the ground, cracking the concrete underneath her. She rose, the suit boosting height to just a few inches taller than Steve. 

The suit was slim and tight, glittering a deep luscious purple. Several small Arc Reactors dotted the surface of the metal, glowing white. Over Pepper's heart rested a large triangular reactor with squared corners, glowing brightest of them all. Her helmet wore an intimidating glare, the thin eyes copying the glow of the many reactors. What was usually coloured gold was now a soothing light silver, bringing an overall more feminine verdict of the suit.

Her right hand rose and the suit suddenly began fragmenting off of her body. The hand and forearms went first and rocketed off somewhere towards the roof, followed by the arms and shoulders, her chest and back. The thighs and calves of the suit were joined by a crotch piece and a rear plate. Soon enough, Pepper stood before them in a smart black business suit. Below the suit was a crisply pressed white button-up and a navy blue tie. Her face was more pale than usual, starkly contrasting her rose-red lipstick. It was clear that while she was attempting to return to her regular life, her husband's state was drawing heavy impacts. Pepper smiled weakly and guided them wordlessly to a metal door with a hole next to a small glowing keycard lock. 

From her pocket she drew a small black card with 'STARK' printed on it in clean white lettering. Pepper deftly slid the card through the red-lit slit and it flashed green with a heavy, dull yet full mechanical clunk. The door beeped once and a handle popped out of the hole. She turned it and pressed the door open. 

Inside was huge and rectangular, incredibly faint marks, depressions and skids on the walls, indicating where heavy technology, machinery and furniture had found over forty or fifty years of purchase. Despite the initial disposition, the emptied warehouse was clean and neat. The usually grey concrete walls had been painted a subtle cream, and the floor was tiled with dark brown false wood designs. In the center of the large space was a large, round table with some of Tony's holographic tech built in, evidenced by the large blue light emanating from the center of the table. Circled around it were quite a few simple chairs of black leather, two three-seat couches and a loveseat. Embedding in the walls around the building was the typical amenities of a house; a sink and stove top surrounded by cupboards and counter-space- dark-foloured granite speckled with light grey specks- a small island sat nearby the counters, another sink within, a rather large rectangular box extending from the corner opposite with a white door, which obviously led to a spacious washroom.

One thing the Captain of the Avengers noticed was a large metal staircase to the near left of them maybe five meters along the twenty meter wall, leading to an underground section of their new lodgings. He closed the gap between their group and the stairs a few quick strides and peered down it. About eight steps down there was a landing that led to another eight steps to a subterranean level.

“What’s down there, Pepper?” Bruce asked, shifting the small box under his arm slightly. Natasha’s head was against him, her fiery hair sprawling over his shoulder. Her eyes rested shut and her breathing held steady. 

"The, uh- The residential area. That's were all the rooms are. They are kinda small but there are enough for all of you." Her replies were slow and quiet, but Steve simply nodded and moved back. He looked to Pepper and shook her comparatively small hand.

"Thank you, Pepper. We needed this," She smiled and nodded. Rogers stood before his team and smiled knowingly. They all left to the lower levels and began to move themselves in.

**Wanda's Room**

The fit brunette sat herself down onto the red-blanketed bed within the room of their new home. The room was larger than Pepper had made it seem, but it was surely smaller than her room in the old Facility. The walls were painted a genteel cream and the floor was roughly carpeted with a hard-sewn fabric. The faint scent of must and mothballs seemingly permeated the entire building, but it was tolerable and Wanda was sure she would adjust to it in a few weeks of living. The smell would simply become background, especially if she used some of the air fresheners Pepper occasionally recommended.

The bed under her was actually quite nice; a thick, sturdy mattress that had just enough give to be perfectly comfortable atop a solid wood boxspring which was in turn nestled into a dark metal bed frame with two wooden boards- a small one at the foot of the bed and a more comprehensive one at the head. She breathed a sigh as her sparse decorations lit the walls.

A few artworks and statuettes rested on nails and basic shelves, a new acoustic guitar from Pepper as an unexpected housewarming gift, a box of CD's and a battery-operated, headphone-compatible small stereo rested in the corner opposite her bed within the rightmost corner, across the room from the repainted metal door.

The door.

The door was the only thing she disliked. It reminded her far too accurately- and therefore uncomfortably- of the small, glorified box Baron Strucker had contained her and her brother in almost nine years ago. Even though they had both volunteered for them the experience was closer to a nightmare than reality, however cliche that was to admit to herself. It had been a Hell that had only been comparable to three other events within her life: The bombing of their Sokovian apartments, Pietro's death in the then-levitating Sokovia and Vision's death in Wakanda. 

There were times during lonely and depressive nights that Wanda felt cursed, felt like she cursed anyone and everyone who loved her. The truest and most repetitive Hell her mind had tortured her had been the excruciating Vanishing nightmares. When she began turning to dust after her failure, she truly wished to embrace it. As her hands felt Vision's body for what she had expected- hoped- to be the last time, she slowly felt her legs numb. She remembered slowly arching her spine as if to embrace the quite welcome and desired death before her consciousness evaporated just like her body.

Everyone else had apparently experienced peaceful and tranquil dreams of happiness, truest desire and quiet contemplation, leaving Wanda as the sole soul to only one to have an even more justified reason to fear her sleep. Whenever she had closed her eyes over the past week she had immediately opened them again, if only to confirm that she was indeed still where she had fallen asleep.The paranoia was developing into insomnia, leading to her leaving her room in the barracks at all hours of the night, her mental irritation heating the air around her. When she would inevitably find herself in the common room Vision would be standing there, waiting.

The first time her insomnia had struck, she had walked in on Vision when he was deep into a book…

**Wakandan Barracks**

Wanda suddenly shot from her bed, her back more stiff than any of Stark’s suits. Her forehead was covered in cool, sticky sweat and her gasps were shallow and sharp. Her mouth was dry and sore from the mumbles and dulled shouts in her sleep. The brown eyes that were usually calm and wide were pinpricks, and what little colour could usually be found in Wanda’s pale, fragile skin was completely gone, leaving her more pale than her white sheet. The dream had returned, the same dream from her death. Vision, being strangled, mutilated and killed over and over, like a devastating loop that her mind didn’t allow her to forget. 

Her vision shot around the dark room, identifying everything around her. There were a few paintings on her wall, a few statuettes on a shelf and-

What was that? It was thick around the bottom with a tall neck and head, two thin legs below it. It stood perfectly still in the corner of her room, when suddenly two glowing eyes ignited with a quiet snarl. If her throat hadn't been so dry she would have screamed and awakened everyone in a ten mile radius. But, a long huff of hot air emerged and Wanda threw her blanket over her head after throwing a spark of her scarlet energy at the creature. 

As she hid under the sheet and prayed to every God she knew, the creature made an odd sound as it fell. The best way to describe was almost like an elastic band snapping but in a higher pitch. 

'That had to have done something to it,' Wanda thought, 'What even is it? How did it get in here?' She steeled her fleeing resolve and peeked out from under the white sheet over her, casting a few strands of her flaming projections which cast a gentle red glow over the room. The strings reached the fallen creature, revealing…

Her light brown acoustic guitar. Her powers had knocked it off of its stand and snapped the third string in the center. As the realization settled, Wanda put her head in her hands and suddenly she was fighting tears. This kind of occurrence was guaranteed every night, leaving her too paranoid to even try to fall asleep again that night. It was leading to a perpetual, vicious cycle of early mornings, short patiences, and her eventual collapse typically just after dinner. Afterward the cycle would restart and bite down harder and harder on her psyche, until one day it would bend. 

Wanda sighed and flipped her legs over the edge of her bed. She hesitated, the childhood fear of a monster grabbing her feet overtaking her. She painfully cleared her throat and allowed herself to stand. But, her system was caught off-guard when her feet touched the cold floor. She stood and became still for a moment. She blinked away any tears she felt, just in case anyone else was awake. She carefully creaked open her door and snuck out into the small hallway. The silence was peaceful yet tense, as the dark ends of the corridors could quite literally hold any monster of Wanda's imagination.

But, it was the simple flit of a book's lage that made Wanda jump. She turned quickly, stealthily igniting small glowing orbs within her palms. She bit her dry lips as she moved forwards at her slowest pace, ready to vaporize whatever sat in the common room ahead of her. Another flit echoed as she passed through the invisible barrier of the common room, but this one was also followed by a British-accented whisper of a Romanian word that translated to 'rode'. It was repeated a few times, as if the voice was trying to learn Romanian. Wanda slowly continued through the room, casting one of her ruby beams across the remaining distance between her and her unknown figure. The beams traveled slowly, careful not to alert whoever was reading. But, almost as if the universe did truly spite her, her powers flared and the beams made bright sparks. Immediately she cut the connection and her beams vanished. Her muscles stiffened to near intolerable levels and her teeth began grinding themselves.

Still she stood, so still she could barely breathe. She strained her hearing to listen for a sound of any kind, but nothing came. After a moment or two of nothing, she relaxed her muscles again and quietly breathed the breath she had been holding. Slowly, she began re-extending her power again when-

“Hello, Wanda.” The British voice said nonchalantly. Her powers- like a valve to water- shut off, the slight ruby glow that had been cast disappearing. Suddenly, a nearby shape shifted and two silver lights appeared, with dark circles in the middle. She sighed deeply when she realized who it was. “Friday?” The voice asked.

Orange lights began building, only slightly brighter than the red glow Wanda’s powers cast. Vision sat on a chair nearby a dark coffee table, dressed in a fine black sweater overtop a white pressed shirt as well as black dress pants and shiny dark shoes. Wanda suddenly felt underdressed in an oversized black shirt and loose red shorts. Vision used his powers gained from the false Mind Stone embedded in his forehead to bring another chair beside himself before motioning to the seat with his book. Wanda moved over and sat beside him as he resumed his reading. She peered over at his reading, somewhat surprised.

It was a classic piece of Romanian literature, something she suspected Vision was using to _learn_ Romanian. Since Vision still retained the intelligence of forty supercomputers thanks to Helen Cho’s advanced robotics research, he still had access to the Internet. He could easily just run his speech through a translator and simply speak that language, but he was actually taking his time to learn the language, even if it was at a superior rate.

But, the most significant thing about Vizh learning Romanian is the fact that Wanda was the only one in the base who knew Romanian.

“Vizh, why are you trying to learn Romanian?” Vision brought his face up from the pages and swallowed, even if it was just a simple reassuratory tool. She looked at his eyes from the side, beckoning him to return the gaze. He turned to look into her eyes, searching himself for a good answer. After a few moments of a loving stare he replied,

“Well, I wish… Share secrets with you, and since our telepathic link is… No longer possible, I have deduced that Romanian would be a sufficient replacement for our mental communications…” His face begged her for a response in some of the most subtle ways that only she could notice; the slight furrowing of the brow, the slight twinkle of questioning behind his eyes, the ways they darted over her eyes, looking for a similar sparkle. She smiled slightly in an attempt to bring Vision’s mood up. He returned the smile warily.

“Vision, that’s beautiful.” His smile rose at her words and he turned back to the book. After a silent moment of rearing he repeated the word in Romanian

_"Frumos,"_

**Warehouse**

Wanda smiled at the memory when who else walked in- well, more like leisurely phased through the wall. He was dressed casually, with a flawless black shirt and dress pants.

"Miss Maximoff." Vision's properness bubbled her heart in such a way that she couldn't even stay mad. However, she would still remind him, even if she was chuckling throughout.

"Vizh," She said in a joking warning tone, "What do I keep saying?" Vision looked confused for a moment before nodding. He phased back out the all he came in. Wanda laughed at his action, before suddenly her door closed. She jumped, but quickly after came a small knock. She smiled and approached the door, opening it to Vision's face. His pose reminded her less of a fearless mechanical Avenger and more of a schoolboy meeting his sweetheart's father for the first time. He looked meek, quiet.

When he met her eyes again, they peered deeper into her than he usually did, so deep it would feel alien and violating if it had been anyone else. But, it was Vision, her Vision, her Vision she thought she lost. Seeing him alive and full was not only relieving but also reassuring, almost therapeutic actually. He looked further into her, almost as if it would immortalize them both, keep them within those seconds eternally. 

But, as time passed, Wanda didn't realize Vision getting closer until his warm lips pressed against hers. Usually, his kisses were gentle and caressing, causing her to gasp in surprise when his body forcefully pressed against hers. Though she had absolutely no arguments as Vision closed the door behind them and turned to force her against it, holding her hands above her head. 

He broke the kiss and began moving down her flesh, running down her jaw and under it to her soft, supple neck. He latched on to her neck and sucked, running his tongue up and down, making her squirm and wriggle fruitlessly under his unfazeable grasp. She moaned throatily into his mouth when he moved one hand from her wrists and cascaded it down her body to her thighs, teasingly rubbing the inner surface of her thigh. Thank God she had indeed gone for her black skirt over a pair of light jeans this morning, as well as a red sweater.

Vision ran his hand over her warm, beating sex. It sent a particularly heavy pulse, telling Vision that she was all but begging from her current restricted position. He smiled slyly at Wanda, who was a particularly lewd magma-red shade of flush in the face from pleasure. Vision traced her clothed, damp slit with two fingers, allowing Wanda to embrace the pleasure before he painfully stole his fingers away. 

He pulled hem up along her curves and edges; up her hip bone, painstakingly across her abs, embracing every feature before finally reaching the curvature of her breasts. He reached the apex of the black metal zipper before agonizingly slowly pulling it back down her torso. Shadows appeared as he passed her breasts, her arms' inclined positions unfortunately keeping her pink nipples hidden from his starving gaze. Wanda bit her bottom lip in preparation. 

Vision suddenly pulled her back and flew to her bed, now lying atop her but still keeping his grip on her wrists. It wasn't too forceful but it had the power it needed to convince her that he was in control. The force of the flight caused her sweater to flutter off of her chest, revealing her fine, toned abdomen, alluring and distractingly arousing bone curves, and of course, her beautiful, erect breasts that bounced and jiggled paralyzingly from the flight. Her pink, hard nipples were like mountains rising from the base of her dainty areolas. Vision deftly kept her wrists in place with one hand and used the other to spread Wanda's legs. Her black underwear stared at Vision, a depression in the center of two slight lumps signifying where her burning desire lay. The orange light caught a small glisten of her arousal from where her sacred opening rested. He gently moved two fingers over her hidden vagina, sending stinging electric shocks down her spine and leaving it tingling.

Wanda moaned as Vision repeated his sensual movements, her squirming and whining intensifying as Vision's actions became more assertive and aggressive. Wanda bucked her hips into his hand, begging for more forceful and effective ministrations. Vision sighed calmly before he slowly moved Wanda's gentle black underwear down her thick yet slender legs, the dark fabric tantalizingly contrasting her toned, pale skin.

_"Tu, Wanda, ești frumoasă…"_ He reassured.

_"Frumos…"_ She echoed.

**To** **Be** **Continued...**


	4. Chapter III: Devastation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha is forced to face her demons when the penultimate bell tolls for a close friend. She's forced to use everything she has- her energy, her friends, her lover- to pull through, lest it become the final nail in her coffin. Hope is traumatized when held at gunpoint, but luckily Scott's there to help. Will he be enough, or will Hope meet the same fate as Natasha's friend?  
Only Time will tell...

**Avengers: Reforged III: Devastation**

**Earth- 199 621, 2023**

**New Asgard**

"Brother, what could you have possibly forgotten that is this critical?" Loki hoarsely asked his brother from the corner with arms crossed, studying Thor who was currently rummaging around his old living space in New Asgard, Norway.

Originally, the two brothers had gone off with the Guardians of the Galaxy, but when Loki fell ill with something due to his new sickly stature a week ago, they had to return to New Asgard for Aesir medicine. While Thor planned to return to his interstellar comrades, Loki was to remain on Earth. He had no qualms however, as he and Valkyrie- Asgard's now-formal Queen since her coronation a few days ago- had begun a beautiful courtship. Currently, Thor was searching for something within his old housing.

Thor didn't answer Loki's question, instead now moving from his old chair to a wooden chest in the opposite corner from Loki. The God of Thunder cracked it open and suddenly the smell of old, stale beer blew out of the ancient box. Loki was actually taken aback by the scent- the God thought that his constant exposure to Thor's recent state, as well as his blossoming romance with Queen Valkyrie- the new term was actually quite fitting- that his tolerance to the toxic scent of alcohol would be stronger.

He was mistaken. Loki began coughing, almost doubling over if he hadn't grabbed his new polished redwood cane that rested against the wall. He brought his elbow to his mouth, not only to censor his cough but also the offensive, horrendous scent.

"Oh, sorry brother," Thor apologized, turning the chest away from his weakened brother slightly, as if it would ease the odour. Still, the gesture was appreciated. Loki took a steadier hold of his walking cane and flipped his lustrous black hair back as he approached Thor, resisting the smell. Thor was still ravaging the chest until he pulled out a small dark wood box, decorated cleanly with golden rims and screws. Thor blew a thick layer of dust off of the lid and popped open the left of two golden snap-locks.

When he opened the second the whole lid came with it, staying attached by only two dusty hinges that creaked with every movement. 

Inside the box rested a platform of gentle velvet, untouched by age and dust thanks to its being sealed. On the velvet rested a lock of clean, thick black hair attached to a sturdy pin.

"Is that…" Loki trailed off as Thor removed the long clip of hair from the box by the pin before sticking it in his own hair. He straightened and adjusted it repeatedly, using his own long hair for a reference of how his brother's hair should sit. Eventually, when the lock was properly aligned Thor began braiding it with a handful of his own. He twirled and looped the hair all the way through until it sat properly. He turned back to his younger brother before gently clasping him on the left shoulder.

"I'm worthy of it again, brother, and I intend to prove it." He moved out of the room, summoning Stormbreaker with an open palm. Loki followed silently after a moment, his cane tapping with every other step. He felt oddly honoured by Thor, but he wouldn't allow it to get to his head, as his Queen would have more than a few things to say for him if he did.

He smiled at the prospect.

**Wanda's Room, Avengers Warehouse**

There his goddess lay, exuding raw passion from every surface of her pearly flesh; flush and red with a heaving blushing chest of his cause. Legs trembling and shaking with the most despondent, primal, _fiery_ need from his cause. Vagina swollen, desperate and glistening from his cause. He knelt above her carnal body as if a brutally carnivorous angel descending from Heaven itself, as if a hungry, holy missionary hell-bent on a single mission; Make Wanda _beg _for him to begin, then to make her beg for him to continue, and finally _force _her to beg him to stop. It happened like clockwork every time they made their beautiful love; Vision would have Wanda at his complete, crippling mercy at the end, her body drained and exhausted and barely clinging to consciousness but impossibly deep in the most suffocating realm of love and passion.

And that's the realm of which he would deliver her tonight if it killed him.

Vision ran his hands down Wanda's creamy thighs, occasionally squeezing and massaging the inner muscles and making her squirm and pant in the best way possible. She whimpered desperately under his iron grip that was still gentle enough to only restrain her and show her who was in control, as well as leaving her begging for him to touch her more. She was tumultuously rubbing her thighs together, doing her best to give herself pleasure.

"Vizh… Please!" She begged quietly, spurring his actions to slow. He rubbed slow, carnal circles on a bone that was dangerously close to her radiant entrance, her radiance pounding his hand both in heat and glory. He smiled as he slowly drifted his finger up her inner thigh, the warmth strengthening as he became closer to her vagina. Wanda was carefully counting every torturous, painful millimetre he crossed, waiting and silently begging for him to just _touch _her. Tears stung her eyes as she released a sad, desperate moan. She looked to him with a broken face and choked out,

"Please, Vizh… Please. I _need _it," Vision smiled provocatively, slyly beginning to crawl up her body. Teasingly, he quickly slid his hand up her bare slit and flicked her clitoris, causing her entire body to convulse unnaturally as she shivered. Goosebumps rose all over her heavenly skin. He dragged his textured tongue over one on her dry, rock-hard peaks, forcing Wanda to bite her lower lip as to not alert the others to their _activity_. Vision dragged his mouth over her chest, across her collarbone- nibbling on the apex ever so- tormentingly slowly up her fine, deliciously pale throat as he suckled tantalizingly on her small vein, then past her jawline before finally reaching her lips, on which he placed the gentlest of kisses as her hot, swollen mouth begged for him.

Vision took hold of Wanda's bottom lip in his teeth, teasing her to her limit. He was torturing her in the best way possible, and it kept getting better but worse. 

As if this torture couldn't increase further. 

Her nipples were burning and aching with hardness and her vagina was on fire, flaming and spewing embers as Vision continued his painfully slow labours. He pinched the other of her reddening buds in two fingers, rolling it in between them and flicking it occasionally. Wanda's moans grew more hearty and throaty as slight tears of desperation pierced her jade-tinged eyes. Her gasps and moans were filled with tense passion, so tense it was almost unbearable. Soon, she would break past her limit and fall from the ever so precarious ledge her sanity teetered on, plunging into her deepest depths of mind-numbing orgasm.

"Say it, Wanda." Vision commanded, casting one of his arms down her side. He slid down her chest and under her sweater that fanned out across her mattress, counting the ribs as he passed. He fell onto her torso and continued falling until the plane swelled with Wanda's strong shapely hips and the band of her black skirt around them. Vision squeezed her bone, eliciting yet another quieted, desperate sob. Wanda looked to him with bleary eyes, her mouth curled downward in a painfully tense and edging lust. Her head fell back in a stifled moan and a sniffle as she begged,

"Vision…." Her voice was breaking and gentle, salty tears rolled down her almond face. Her glossy pink lips quivered with passion and tension before a shaky, sharp breath when her android lover rubbed a quick, calculated circle on her clitoris, her spine turning to ice.

"Say it." He commanded again, his voice edging with a rigid force that sent dominating shivers up and down Wanda's entire body. Her back arched, her breasts pressing against his tight pectorals. Her straining orgasm crawled ever closer.

"Vizh-" She begged, her eyes pleading for Vision to bring her to her desperately close climax. 

"Say. It. Wanda." Vision ordered, stopping his ministrations altogether- at Wanda's weak, pitiful rebuttal. A pressure was building in her stomach, one that would roll over the Earth if it wasn't released. It needed to be quenched. It needed release.

She needed release.

"Mark me! Fuck me, Vizh! Make me forget who I am!" She cried despondently, her voice cracking like glass. She cared not if anyone heard, now only seeking the touch of her lover. Her mouth quivered violently as she spoke, and her eyes begged him to complete his side or the deal as she admitted what he so desired to hear.

Vision smiled erotically at her relented cry before he crushed his body against Wanda's in a romantic embrace. He removed the hand from Wanda's wrists, allowing her hands to clasp themselves onto his strong, finely-cut shoulders. She quickly glided her hands over his bones and down his edges, reveling in the feeling of her free hands. 

She shivered violently when Vision thrusted his middle and index finger into her vagina. Her arms clamped around his body and she bit into his invincible shoulder. He grinned at her shuddering as he began to slowly drag his digits back out, scraping the walls of Wanda's slick, tender opening, the edges of her vice clamping on his fingers. He had just reached out as far as his fingertip before slamming them back in.

The force and pleasure of the thrust had clearly been almost too much as the woman threw her head back and her eyes rolled into the back of her head. Vision smiled and sped up his ministrations, pleased as Wanda repeated his name quickly in ecstasy. The frequency was increasing as was the pitch as her release became more and more pressing. Her skin was blushing further and beads of sweat built on her elegant, alluring, meaty thighs. She was digging her nails as hard as she could into her lover's back- so hard, in fact, that she knew her black-painted nails surely would have drawn blood had Vision been human. 

With a final, loving thrust Wanda shot forward and bit into Vision's shoulder, her body wrapping around his like the most powerful magnet, heat radiating off the both of them. Wanda's legs shook uncontrollably as her climax froze her, keeping her being in a state of orgasmic paralysis.

Vision slowly dragged his fingers out, reveling in the feeling of the hot film of Wanda's sultry fluid on his fingers. The brunette's spasms slowly shuddered to a stop nearly five intimate minutes later, but her breathing was still deep and heavy, the harsh orgasm clearly straining her breathing in her favourite way.

Wanda looked up into her synthetic lover's eyes and found what was a mirrored expression of lust satisfied and the deepest, most mind-and-body-numbing love. Unadulterated, passionate, deeper than any substance ever created by any being, known or unknown.

"_O muză de o frumusețe de neimaginat. Culoarea viziunii mele,_" Vision whispered in Wanda's native tongue, caressing her cheek with a gentle hand. She sighed, her lip quivering slightly. She licked her lips before responding,

"_Un bărbat frumos născut din voință, sacrificiu și pasiune. Textura a ceea ce ar trebui să fie omul_." Vision's expression settled slowly as he repeated,

"_Om?_" He smiled warmly as the word escaped him, comforting him as Wanda Maximoff- his lover, his truest passion, the reason he fought for the world now- curled her nude form against his own, fading fast into a sleep of purity and peace. 

Ever since the bombing of her apartment seventeen years ago, Wanda had suffered from horrendous nightmares. They had only become worse in 2014- when she had been effectively tortured into developing her psychic powers, again in 2015 with the death of her brother and the destruction of her home, and yet again in 2018 at Vision's two deaths- one of which she had been, at the cold, unloving demand of the universe, forced to cause. And then, the end of her life she found herself silently weeping and begging for many nights came and sealed her soul into a stone of death. She typically stayed alone until her nightmares were unbearable alone and she asked Vision to be with her, but recently she had been able to fall to sleep on her own again, her mind perhaps healing into a slight realm of normalcy since returning to a peaceful life. Well, as peaceful as possible, anyway. He knew that if tonight- any night- her dreams proved too hellish, he would be at her side until day broke, until her mind allowed her peace. Even then, he would stay her beloved, stay her lover.

Stay _her _Vizh.

Vision kissed the top of his sleeping woman's head before phasing himself out of her grip, allowing her to rest in peace. Her arm fell to the bed as Vision stood and rephased his clothing- a black sweater with a white, collared shirt underneath as well as brown slacks and black dress shoes. Perhaps too professional for casual wear, but it was comfortable and familiar enough for him.

As he went to open the door, he heard Wanda whimper in her sleep. He turned quickly, and what he saw sent him into a panic he hoped he would never feel again.

Wanda's face was contorted in pain, her eyes wide and glowing red under a thick veil of tears. Her lips were twisted in sadness and her cries were subdued and quiet, almost like they weren't hers. Vision was immediately at her side, doing his best to shake her awake without hurting her. 

"Wanda! Wanda!" She shot up, the red light disintegrating. Her eyes spouted tears more fully as her arms wrapped around Vision. Her breathing was quick and shallow, filled with sobs. He embraced her tightly, trying to calm her. However, she pulled away and looked into his eyes.

"Wanda?" Vision asked in confusion.

"It's Natasha. Something's wrong," She stated hurriedly, holding her head to ease the fresh headache.

**Common Room**

Sam and Rhodey were discussing something solemnly and quietly, Steve, Bucky and Peggy stood silently behind them. Sam had arrived just a few minutes ago, clearly to deliver bad news. Steve had just called Natasha up from her redecorating spree.

Bruce and a freshly-dressed Natasha rushed into the common room, everyone but Sam turning to them silently. Bruce steeled himself and Natasha looked on in confusion as Bruce walked to Sam, who stood to meet him. Wordlessly, Sam handed Banner a small folder, which he took and quickly read. About halfway through his expression dropped somewhat and he looked back up to Sam, who looked down and nodded. 

“Guys, what’s happening? It’s not my birthday for a while.” Natasha joked in a deadpan with her hands on her hips. Her joke caused only a smile in Rhodey, but even then it was a sad and contemplational one. Bruce finished the packet and returned it to Sam before turning around and pulling Natasha into a comforting embrace. His breathing was steady yet uncomfortable.

"What is it, Bruce?” It was a quiet moment only punctuated by Steve’s mumbling something quiet to Bucky before Bruce responded,

"Laura… Killed herself, earlier this morning…" 

It felt like a gunshot to her fucking chest. 

At first, she found out she couldn't breathe. Her lungs were frozen, stuck in time as her body continued to flow through the sand. Then, a slow, painful freeze crawled up her legs, shiveringly slow as it climbed, like icy vines wrapping their thorny arms around her calves. Bruce kept her steady as the paralysis cut up her thighs, slicing her hip, carving through her organs as the feeling sank in. Her ribs cracked as the icy touch continued, callously dodging her heart. Natasha choked as her collarbone turned to ice and her neck slowly lost feeling, continuing onto her jaw and her face, reached all the way down to the darkened ends of fresh-cut shoulder-length flaming hair. It was extinguished, thin wisps of smoke hissing as her soul cracked.

Natasha stood still in the confusing embrace- Bruce exuded warmth and empathy as usual, while her own body passed an uncomfortably familiar cold, dead, apathetic aura- her brain failing- simply denying- the fact that Laura had… that she… she had done… this. Her mind was simply not accepting it, denying it fruitlessly, to the point where legitimate anger was rising.

"Wh… What?" She asked silently, separating from Banner in confusion. She looked to the rest of the group. Sam nodded solemnly while Steve stood a little taller with Peggy in his arms. Rhodey sat and sank into one of the chairs. Natasha gripped Bruce harder. Sam looked to the floor while he stood, allowing the news to course over her.

Natasha stumbled into a seat as she reimagined her lover's calm, dreadful words.

'_Laura killed… Herself_,’ She thought it over again and again, not quite accepting the truth yet knowing it to be true. It was… She put her hands on her face as she thought about it more and more. She didn't want to ask, but she needed to know. She had a dull feeling to know how, but what was more important,

"Why?" Natasha slowly asked, looking up to Sam. He sighed heavily before taking a small sheet of lined paper out of the small packet he gave to Banner. He handed it gingerly to Natasha, who gently folded it open.

"That's… That's her… note. Careful with it," Everyone was silent as Natasha read over the note, Bruce over her shoulder reading it as well. The handwriting was messy, clearly written by a shaky, sobbing band.

'_To whoever finds this first,_

_I don't think I can do this any longer. I miss him every day, and it's starting to hurt. More than any wound, more than childbirth. They're his too, and I can't even look at them without seeing… him. I want to see him again, I can't live without him. I'm sorry._' The handwriting continued to worsen, scribbles and shakes making it nearly unrecognizable as Laura's. '_And if Natasha Romanoff ever reads this;_

_This is your goddamn fault.'_

Near the bottom of her words was a few small splatters of dried, dark orange… specks. Laura's dried blood speckled the bottom half of the note, cutting off abruptly just below a fold line.

Natasha dropped the note, allowing it to flutter to the cool floor. She hardly noticed, the bottom of her eyesight being consumed by stinging tears. She cupped her hands over her mouth as cries echoed from her throat. Her shoulders shook as Bruce placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, coaxing her to allow her emotions out. Natasha turned to the man and stood before burying her face in his chest, allowing herself to cry. She hadn’t actually cried this heavily within her memory, in fact the only times she remembered crying was when things either got to her- like when she had told Bruce she was sterile- or when she was to fool her enemies back when she was… What she was… _before_ her Avenger life.

Sam slowly bent down and picked up the spattered note before refolding it and placing it back within the package. He threw the sealed folder onto the coffee table. Rhodey carefully took the packet in his hand and studied it absentmindedly. It was a plain brown folder with Laura's note, photographs of the scene inside a sealed plastic bag, a rather thick booklet of paperwork and something else that was oddly heavy within. Rhodey reached into the packet and grasped the object, which was within another plastic bag. Sam's brown eyes suddenly shot open as Rhodey pulled out the item.

"Wait don't-!" He was silenced by the thump of a dark-coloured, bloodied, scratched revolver hitting the table. The muzzle had a spattered ring of darkened and dried crimson blood wrapping the end of the short barrel. All six chambers were empty. Rhodey had dropped it in surprise, but now he rushedly tried to put it back in the bag after a near silent “Oh shit,”

Natasha stared at the gun in tears, watching the muzzle intently. 

“No, please don’t.” She begged tearfully. Rhodey looked at her eyes, their stare begging him to leave it. As he rested the gun back down it seemed to grow slowly, the blood pooling around the barrel of the gun, overtaking the face of the table slowly, like endless, murderous syrup. Splashes echoed ravenously in her ears as they slammed into the ground, cracking the cement below. The blood didn't stop flowing, slowly filling the room. The crimson fluid fell down the stairs, flooding the lower levels first. As Natasha stood, waiting for the blood to begin rising around her she felt a hand on her shoulder. She felt that it was Bruce’s, but even he had no effect on her drowning mind. Eventually, Natasha felt a small tickle on her ankles. She looked down, seeing Laura's blood slowly rising, but quicker than before. Back to the gun her eyes fell, and now blood was gushing, _gushing_ out of the barrel as it waterfalled to the floor, consuming everything. Steve, Bucky, Peggy and Rhodey, as well as Sam and Bruce all seemed to not notice it, or they were- like Natasha- indifferent.

Indifferent as the blood slowly crawled up her calves, Natasha allowed her tears to fall. They splashed into the wave of blood now halfway past her knee, nearing her hip and consuming her unpainted, shiny nails. She looked back to the black-sheening revolver, now floating on top of the pool. Still a fountain of warm blood sprayed, continually filling their new base. Sam and Rhodey were now up to the breast in the liquid, their heads just above the level. Natasha felt her loose shirt cling to her body as the blood came up faster, reaching the curve of the bottom of her breasts in only a few seconds.

She was indifferent as the couple on the chairs went under, small bubbles of their breath the only things confirming their existence had even occurred. Bruce beside her floated away, sending ripples of blood away from his body. The ripples brought more blood, alerting her to the level just below her soft jawline. She brought up the hand that lay limply at her side to the side of her neck, tracing her index over one of the many scars she had received during her Avenging career. 

Ever since Clint had spared her from death. She pushed herself to save people, to fight for their right to survive and to _live_. But now, the one person who needed saving above all was dead. Natasha had secretly vowed to protect her friend's family- the three kids and Laura. But she had failed- no, in fact, she had _killed herself- _and Laura blamed her. Natasha sighed shakily as the blood licked her lips and passed her face. All she could smell, taste and see was the red, coppery flavour of blood. It was overwhelming, heartless and cold as Natasha felt her lungs burn in retort as the blood passed her nose and sealed her eyes shut, overtaking the top of her head and finally sealing her within a womb of her friend’s blood. Natasha felt herself suffocating as the blood hardened around her, her skin dying the same rosy colour as the liquid seeped into her, sapping every ounce of her own blood from her veins. The last thing she felt as her final breath left her was a feeling of true and accepted numbness, a feeling of peace despite the chaos.

Her eyes suddenly snapped open, and everything was back to normal. There was no blood, she wasn’t drowning, she wasn’t dying.

But still, the revolver lay on the table. Taunting her. Teasing her. Torturing her. Natasha’s imagination went wild as she imagined diving for the gun, pointing it towards her own temple and-

“Natasha?” Bruce asked quietly, breaking off her thoughts. She looked to him, her eyes threatening to cry again. Her stomach dropped and she almost threw up as his eyes looked into her sadness. He kept his distance from her, knowing she might want to be alone for a while, despite the opposite being true.

‘_He’s scared_.’ Her subconscious whispered coldly. ‘_He’s terrified of you, and why shouldn’t he be?_’ She stayed silent as the voice continued. ‘_You’ve killed so many, and now you think serving liars and killers will spare your sins- your red ledger?_’

She wanted the voice to stop, to leave her be, but there was a part of her that knew it was right. It was right: Bruce had reason to fear her. They all did. She was a monster, more than anyone else on the team.

'_The team that doesn't need you._' She reminded herself. She was human, mortal, unskilled in comparison to her team. Gods, beasts and heroes, all defending a puny, psychotic, bloodthirsty _assassin_. An idiot who wholeheartedly believed that working with and for people whose body counts matched or even _surpassed _her own would spare her damnation.

She was _very _wrong.

"I-I have to go." Natasha whispered as she left abruptly. Bruce moved to follow her but was stopped as a deadly whap of thunder cracked the sky above the base. A white, strobing light flashed across the front of the building before it faded. There was silence, accompanied only by a faint knocking and indistinguishable bickering from the other side. Rhodey rose to answer, but clearly it wasn't fast enough. The doors swung open, a mix of hot white and lime green light piercing the drowning, depressing aura. Bucky shielded himself with his arm, Steve threw himself in front of Peggy, Rhodey spun to the ground and activated a small nanobot wrist-mounted SMG, pointing it at the new threat and Sam ducked behind a chair to use as cover as he pulled out a discreet nine-millimetre from the back of his jeans.

Thor and Loki stood in offensive positions before them, ready to battle. Thor had Stormbreaker at the ready, the sharp weapon shooting righteously blue lightning off of every curve. Loki stood somewhat unsteadily behind Thor, his royal golden horned helm and two silver daggers at the ready.

“What threat faces us now?” Thor shouted. Rhodey sighed and deactivated the SMG and rose to his feet. Sam put away the gun and rose as well as Thor and Loki calmed down. Thor’s lightning slowly dissipated and Loki summoned his wooden cane again, sheathing his daggers.

“Thor-” Steve attempted to begin.

“What is the emergency?” The god asked again, his weapon humming with movement towards the Captain. Steve sighed and moved to the table, but he hit the ground as two gunshots went off from behind him. Thor dove in front of Loki, assuming at least one of them was aimed for his brother. However, both shots hit the wall. In reflex, Steve took hold of the upgraded Wakandan shields and threw one to Thor, who deflected three more shots as the device expanded on his wrist.

“Oh. Thor,” Natasha sighed with a breaking voice, lowering her two guns. Her face was pale, thin tear tracks down her face. Her eyes were red, puffy and clearly sore. Thor lowered the shield slowly, peeking over the sharp point of the weapon. Natasha rested her elbows on the railing of the staircase and put her head in her hands, sighing emotionally. Bruce moved over to her, doing his best to comfort her.

“Brother, your arm.” Loki said all too casually, pointing to the grazed bullet hole Thor had received from Natasha’s deadly reflexes. Thor looked to his arm with a small glance but ignored the divet in his bicep. Instead, he approached Steve and handed the shrunken shield to him while asking,

“What’s wrong with Natasha? Is it Barton again?” Steve shook his head and took hold of the small folder on the table. He took out the most critical piece- Laura’s note- and allowed Thor to read it. He looked it over, his uncovered eye widening. He looked back up to Steve in shock who nodded slowly in response. He nodded slightly and returned the stained sheet before looking apologetically to Natasha, now being cradled with a most careful fragility by Bruce.

After a moment of silence- of which Thor used to fill Loki in- Thor slowly moved over to Natasha and Banner, resting Stormbreaker gently against the wall. Loki took a quiet seat next to Bucky, who had seated himself on the couch after the commotion. Neither of them knew Laura even existed, but they did their best to mourn with the others nonetheless. The two shared a look and a silent handshake offered by Bucky.

Natasha separated herself from Bruce as Thor approached. Thor and Banner shared a look before a brotherly hug was also shared between them. Bruce moved away as Thor stood next to the grieving redhead. She didn’t even hazard a look to him, knowing that the God’s newfound empathy would break her yet again.

“Natasha… This isn’t your fault,” He carefully began. He wasn’t allowed to finish though, because Natasha whipped out a small pocket blade and stuck it in Thor’s hefty shoulder before she took her exit down the stairs again. Thor looked at the blade sadly with a small groan before removing it and flicking it to the floor. It wasn’t meant to hurt, it was simply meant to dissuade him from following.

Loki approached his brother, resting his hand on the God of Thunder’s uninjured shoulder. Thor looked to him with a worried expression, but Loki simply responded,

“She’ll come around brother. She always does.”

**One Week Later…**

It had been just over a week that Laura had been pronounced officially dead by suicide; Gunshot to the right temple. The mood of the New Compound was like an overhanging blade, ready to drop and slice through the collective neck of the recovering heroes. Both Thor and Loki had remained at the New Compound, apparently awaiting a call from Queen Valkyrie to return to New Asgard, as the Guardians had decided to dock there temporarily.

Sam had since left quite abruptly, saying he had business to deal with. Rhodey had gone every other day to visit Tony in the hospital, both to talk to his unconscious friend and to deliver the horrible news about Laura. Currently, he was in the kitchen with Vision discussing current events. Wanda and Peggy were cooking within the kitchen. Vision had offered multiple times to assist in cooking, but had been kindly denied by Wanda, who joked that there was no fire alarm yet installed. 

"_Rahat_. We don't have the cheese the recipe needs," Wanda muttered as she looked through the extensive cheese variety. "The _one_ kind we don't have."

"I can grab you some. What kind?" Rhodey asked, standing from his seat.

"Uh..." Peggy scrolled through the cookbook with her finger. "Pepper-jack. Alternatively, we could use regular monterey, but it'd alter the taste of the entire dish.

"Sure. Back in fifteen." With that, Rhodey exited the Compound and climbed into his old, black truck and drove away.

Steve and Bucky were standing before the holographic table, doing their collective best to understand how the damn thing worked. Together they managed to pull up the blueprints of the New Compound with a little assistance from FRIDAY, and were now overlooking the electrical wiring systems. Steve sighed while running a hand through his thick, luscious beard and Bucky absentmindedly tapped his mechanical fingers rhythmically on the hard case of the table. Apparently, the old building had been retrofitted with a gigantic subterranean Arc reactor, and was entirely self-sufficient, at least in terms of electricity consumption.

Thor and Loki were attempting to spar behind the facility, but unfortunately Loki was at an obvious disadvantage, even more severe than usual. His leg was still mysteriously damaged and his limp affected his fighting. Every time, the sparring ended with Loki under Thor's boot. Currently, Thor had swung Stormbreaker a bit too hard and she was embedded within the concrete. He was fighting with his fists only, and Loki was somehow winning. He dodged a particularly strong right swing and countered with a punch to Thor's side. The God of Thunder was expecting it however, and caught his brother's arm. He twisted Loki's arm and flipped him onto the ground. Loki groaned- more in frustration than pain- as Thor placed his foot on his weakly chest. Loki coughed hoarsely before Thor helped him to his feet. He brushed himself off and summoned his axe before demanding that his brother rest. Thor turned- his blood-red cape fluttering with his movement- and returned inside, leaving Loki to his own.

Loki sighed and summoned his cane, having it reform from an umbrella with his illusionary magic. He was tired of having to use this cane, he was tired of having a limp. How did this even come to be in the first place? 

A beating of wings attracted his attention from his malcontented thoughts, though he assumed it was just a low-flying bird. However, when he looked up he spotted a majestic, pearl-white winged horse descending before him, almost as if a gift to him from above- from the so-called 'Heaven' Midgardians talked of so much. On its back was an equally beautiful woman, athletic and lean yet strong and nimble. Her skin was a beautifully smooth light brown, blending inexplicably with her dark chocolate eyes and shining dark hair. She was dressed in a pristine cream-and-silver outfit with a billowing blue cloak. In a matching cloth sheath was a sharp, thin silver blade that matched its user in both grace and elegance.

Valkyrie landed in the small courtyard rimmed by chain-link, her pegasus whinnying knowingly to Loki. He approached the beautiful creature and laid his hand against its nose, calming it gently. The Queen hopped off of her animal and approached Loki, her stride angry and her fists ready to meet a surface of flesh. Loki backed up ever so as she approached, taken aback by her anger.

"What happened?" He asked rushedly, worried his absence caused some ripple in New Asgard. As his belle stood before him with their ten-inch height difference feeling less and less significant as time ticked by, she threw a quick slap to his face. He guarded against it with his cane, looking at her quizzically. She usually only tried to hit him when she was frustrated with him particularly. 

"What happened?" She parotted, her look of rage shifting to one of simultaneous worry and relief. She suddenly grabbed Loki's collar and pulled him into a relieved kiss. It lasted for only seconds, yet any embrace with her felt like thousands of them to him. She parted, but stayed close, staring intently. Behind her eyes, Loki could see, a dark cloud of lust formed. 

She dove in again, grabbing his collar and dragging him to her horse, pinning him against the soft, feathery wings. She bit his bottom lip, taunting him. With a quick move, Loki flipped bis Queen over and resumed, sliding his tongue up and down her neck to just under her round jawline. He found purchase on her jugular when a gentle bite earned a stifled, desperate moan. Valkyrie quickly escaped his grasp, her chest heaving and face flushed. The Queen looked away from his confident smile before she continued,

"You haven't come back, that's what happened! I've been summoning you for three days! I've been… worried." Loki's look shifted from confident arousal to one of confused shock and shook his head. He had received no messages nor any contact from New Asgard since he had reached the New Compound thanks to Stormbreaker's Bifrost-summoning powers. 

"My love, I've received no correspondence from our home," He responded, retaking a steady hold on his strong cane. His queen returned a look of confusion. "That's impossible, I've sent three separate warriors to gather you and Thor. They all returned and said they couldn't find you! Have you been here since you left?" She asked, dangerously serious. Though, it was hard for him to be intimidated when she licked her lips with a flick of her tongue, desiring another, _deeper_ kiss.

"On my life," He responded calmly, warding off his romantic thoughts- for now. "What warriors did you send?" He asked.

"That doesn't matter. What matters now is that you and Thor return immediately to Asga-" There was a sharp _plunk, _almost like an air-pop gun, followed quickly by sharp, short _hs. _Valkyrie's eyes dilated and rolled into the back of her head before she toppled over onto Loki. A small, wooden dart with a clear plastic window and brown feathers stuck out of his Queen's neck. Inside the dart was a lime-green liquid quickly draining into Valkyrie's neck. Loki quickly pulled it out and threw it to the ground, shattering the plastic screen. He allowed his cane to fall to the ground and scooped his lover up, ignoring his leg screaming in retortion. Gently, he shook her body. 

"Valah?" His pet name for her- which usually was used tauntingly to earn himself a gracious smile under a poor scowl- was instead used in paranoia. She didn't move, she didn't smile, _nothing_. "Valkyrie!" He shouted. Again, nothing. He steeled himself before limping at a quick pace towards the front of the Compound, and when he reached the front he dashed to the door of the Compound and threw it open.

"Banner! Banner, help!" He shouted panickedly, his leg yelling almost louder than him.

**Downstairs**

Thor knocked on the door Banner had said was Natasha's, waiting patiently for a response. When none came, he knocked again. This time, she did respond, though not in the manner he had wanted, yet unfortunately had expected.

"Leave me alone," Her voice was hoarse and rough, a bit more emotional than usual. He heard her clear her throat, but no other words came. He swallowed his fear and told her back,

"It's um, It's Thor, Nat. Can I… Can I come in?" Again, silence. But, after a moment of dejection, the sound of her door's lock clicking open told him to let himself in. Slowly, he opened the door and peeked in her room.

The sight was downright _depressing_. 

Natasha herself was pale, almost cold-looking, even though she was under a white comforter. Her hair had lost its flaming luster and burning tenacity, now a faded orange. She was thinner than usual, not having eaten much at all the whole week. Even from his vantage, Thor could see her cheekbones more prominently than he remembered or liked to remember. She was shivering, even under her blanket. But, it wasn’t just the woman herself that made the sight so pitiful.

Her white pillow was greyed under her face from a week's worth of crying, and the two mirrors on her small desk in the corner were shattered, small droplets of days old dried blood dotting the wood surface. A drawer on the corner was hanging open, a pair of bloody tweezers, countless bloody cotton balls, a bottle of medical disinfectant and a wrap of slightly blood-stained bandage fell near the front, easily accessible. A shallow tin full of fine, bloody shards of crystalline glass sat under the tweezers. 

He knew what happened.

"You saw her didn't you? In the mirror?" He asked, stepping into the room and quietly closing the door behind him.

When no reaction part a deep, shaky, cry-suppressing sigh came from her he decided to continue. “I know how it feels, to think that you killed your friend when-”

“You have no goddamn idea how it feels. I know you’re trying to help, but you just _can’t _understand. These are _mortal _problems, Thor!” She responded callously, perhaps more harsh than she meant to be. She wanted someone else to understand, more than anything else, but her anger was making her irrational, mean…

Murderous, just like she was before.

Despite her rage, Thor managed to stay calm. “Actually, I do understand. I may have a longer life span, but one day, I will die. Like my father, and his father, and his father before him; I am mortal. And yes, I know what it’s like to be blamed for the deaths of loved ones. Loki- more than once- my father, even-” His breath suddenly caught itself. Thor steeled himself and looked away. He carefully approached Natasha and took a gentle seat on her bed. After a moment, he continued,

“I had four grand friends on Asgard, and my sister- Hela- killed all of them. But, really… I did,” Natasha turned and glared at Thor with a piercingly enraged look, but allowed him to continue, “They were… Good people, and they died because I was too weak, because I was too _arrogant._” Thor’s voice cracked, tears welling in his eye. Natasha’s anger slowly faded as the god started cracking, She looked away as well, not allowing him to see her new tears as she thought of Laura yet again. She brought her left hand from underneath her cover, seeing her knuckles wrapped professionally in bandages and cotton, some red still bleeding through her defenses. 

“So yes, I know how you feel. But, Laura isn’t your fault, Natasha," He turned back to her, and put a steady hand on her pale shoulder. "We all only have so long to live- even I- and you can't spend it on survivor's guilt. I did, and now…" He trailed off, tempting Natasha to look at him. She rolled over in place, looking Thor up and down.

His belly was round, his hair and beard were both long and scruffy, his previous godlike muscle was gone. Yet, underneath he was still Thor, still the God of Thunder, still an Avenger, still a _hero_.

Unlike her, though, Thor had always been a hero. Always a Prince of Asgard, willing to fight and die for his people, even if the move he took to do so was the wrong one. She, on the other hand, was never a hero. Always a villain bent on bloodlusting murder and sharp-edged cruelty, laser-focused on bringing pain and death. She was a lump of cold-blooded assassin clay in the shape of a hero, however many unnatural bends and twists it took to form it. He, on the other hand, was like a fine sculpture erected in an even finer museum, molded out of the very finest clay and shaped with the sharpest of tools, every bend and curve completely perfect, natural and heroic, even in his current form.

"What were their names?" She found herself asking. Maybe a distraction would help keep the voice away. She had tried all week to find distraction; Games, cleaning, reorganization, sleep, sex- nothing had worked. Thor sighed heavily, but nodded understandingly.

"Um… Fandral, one of Asgard's finest swordsmen, he- he, um… He was far too polite for a warrior of his strength. Strong, charming, a will of iron. Famous with the ladies. Then there was Volstagg, a man who's large heart could only be beaten by his stomach. Jovial, he was, right up until his death. And of course, Hogun. Hogun was all business, always serious- Hogun the Grim we called him. But a good man, Heimdall told me of his brave offensive against Hela- my sister. Valiant, all right until their last breath," Thor finished, choking back a sob in memory of his great friends.

Natasha, however, recalled Thor's previous words.

"You said there were four." 

Thor looked at her, mildly shocked. He steeled himself and nodded. "Yeah, there was… Uh… Lady S… Sif. Her name was Sif," He was clearly struggling, even with just the memory he was in pain. "She… Well, Heimdall just said that she was on Asgard when it… Uh, when I blew it up. She didn't make it, and she…" Thor choked on the word, coughing into his arm. But Natasha got the blatant hint. "I guess Heimdall didn't tell me because I would have gone for her, even if it killed me, even if it killed _all _of Asgard. Because he knew. He knew that I… Uh, that I…" He wasn't able to finish.

"He knew you liked her," She replied evenly. Even she was mildly shocked at how calm she was, given her circumstances of the past week.

'_It's because you have no heart,_' The voice hissed.

"Liked?" He scoffed sadly. "That's one way of saying it. She… Liked me, ever since were were children sparring with old branches, but I always thought it was just a childhood crush, you know? But, it stayed with her for all her life. And then Jane came along and she… Well, Sif endured the heartbreak and I think- if we had just had a little more time- we could have-" He stopped himself before he got too far. "But, instead, I killed her- I killed them all. I didn't even get to say good-bye, or tell Sif that I really did- really _do_, still lov-"

Thor was cut off by his brother yelling from the level above. "Banner! Banner, help!" He was distressed, clearly, but why was Bruce needed?

"Loki?" Thor got up to leave, but when he halfway out the door he stopped and turned back to Natasha. "It will get better eventually, I promise. You need to stand tall, look your demon in the eyes and tell it to go to Hel. Tell it you’re in control. We’re all here for you, Nat." He stated as he opened his hand. Stormbreaker came rocketing and the God was off to help his brother. "Loki!"

Natasha remained alone, alone to her thoughts. Thor's words were surprisingly helpful, even if they weren't an instant fix. She swallowed her sense of drowning paranoia as well as the newfound and passionately uncomfortable sense of mortal existentialism and followed Thor, ready to do anything to keep her mind off of Laura.

'_You're stalling the inevitable_,' The voice whispered coldly.

Natasha pulled together everyone's words- Thor, Sam, Steve, Rhodey and Bruce's- to repel her demon. She wiped her eyes with her hand and clenched her fists before steadily saying,

"Fuck off." She stated, with a clear tone of finality. She held her head high as she exited her room and followed Thor up the stairs to the commotion.

She felt a wave of power surge through her hair as it reignited, flaming orange once again.

**Upstairs**

Loki stood, his caramel-skinned queen still unconscious from the dart, his leg screaming in dull, throbbing, near unbearable pain had it not been for the adrenaline. Bruce rushed over from the small kitchen, Vision hurrying beside him. Wanda and Peggy abandoned their nearly finished dinner cooking by turning off the stove while Steve and Bucky came from the table, of which now had an examination of the blueprints for the old Stark Tower in New York. Immediately, Bruce concerned himself with Valkyrie's fainted form.

"What the Hell happened?" 

"She was hit with a dart, I don't know from where," Loki responded, his accent amplifying his panic. Vision plucked the dart out of the Queen's neck and analysed it quickly, his steel-blue eyes glowing yellow and spinning quickly as he worked. Wanda watched with almost childlike wonder as he worked. 

"It appears to have contained a powerful sedative, though I'm not quite sure one of any Earthly origins could neutralize an Aesir with such a small dosage." He phased his fingers through the dart and collected a small sample. Again, his eyes glowed and spun, before resulting in, "I can isolate a very powerful tranquilizer- one that will easily incapacitate a large animal, say a moose or bear, but there's a certain enhancement that I cannot quantify. Surely the additive increased the effectivity, as the tranquilizer alone could not fully neutralize Miss Valkyrie. Perhaps something akin to severe intoxication but-"

"What does that mean?" Loki looked to Banner worriedly. Thor suddenly came up the stairs and straight to Loki. He looked to Valkyrie's incapacitated form silently before looking back to his brother. 

"It means that she's just knocked out, but I don't know much else. I- I need more data before I can…" He trailed off, his mind lighting up. "I got it. Tony's lab had a bio-organics section he designed for me. He specifically had a full-body scanner built in to help check my gamma levels," Vision nodded in understanding, but everyone else looked on in confusion. It was then Natasha emerged from the staircase, her eyes hard-set with a new steely determination.

"What does that mean?" Wanda asked, all the science-techno talk going so far over hear head she couldn't even see it. Vision gave her a small smile, opening his mouth to give her a real answer before,

"It means we have to haul ass to Stark's lab, Red." Steve nodded to Natasha quietly while Wanda smiled at Natasha’s new gaze. Rogers took hold of the improved Wakandan shields and slipped them on, then he began the move out to the Quinjet, followed by Wanda, Peggy, Bucky, a slightly embarrassed Vision and a limping Loki, who was still cradling Valkyrie's limp form, her cobalt-shaded cape nearly drifting along the ground. Bruce, Natasha and Thor still remained within the Facility.

"Are you sure you're up for this, Nat?" Bruce asked, bringing her close to him. Thor stood with Stormbreaker in hand, watching the couple. Natasha squirmed into a hug, facing towards Thor.

"No. But I know I don't wanna be alone, and I know that I want to be with you, Bruce. I go where you go," She mouthed to Thor, 'He went to Hel,' The God nodded surely and gave her a thumbs-up. He knew her recovery would take so much longer and so much more effort than that, but it was a sure start.

Bruce and Natasha separated, and Bruce stayed behind when Steve called Natasha to help piloting. Thor and Banner shared a look as Natasha took off towards the jet.

"Thank you, Thor." Bruce said. Thor looked to him earnestly and nodded. He turned back to Natasha, just seeing her exit the New Compound with a look over her shoulder to the two of them and a "Come on, boys,"

"Of course, Banner," Thor responded nonchalantly. "Anything to help Nat through this. You're a lucky man, you know,” He snickered before continuing. “Not many can say they've been bitten by a Black Widow and live to tell it,"

"What?" Bruce asked quickly. With no words, Thor simply pointed to a dull set of reddened teeth marks creeping out from under the neckline of his shirt Natasha had set last night. The God laughed heartily and started towards the ship. Bruce felt his face grow hot, wondering how many of the others had seen the bite.

But then it hit him.

That _should _have healed by now. Bruce stood for a few moments, contemplating the question of why the marks were still present, when he suddenly felt a warm pair of hands grab his own. He looked up to Natasha, who were a temporary smile.

"Let's go, before I give you another set. God knows I want to..." She whispered in a low, haughty tone that made Banner's face grow ever hotter. The redhead and the scientist exited the building and entered the jet, which floated off the ground before soaring to the coordinates of Tony's currently unused lab.

Five minutes later, Rhodey pulled up to the compound and entered with a plastic package. He walked in and shouted,

"Hey Wanda, Peggy, I got the cheese you said you need-" He then stopped and stood still for a moment. Slowly, he exited and stared at the place the Quinjet once stood. He then realized they left for somewhere without him.

"Oh, Hell no."

**Stark's Lab**

Bruce entered the lab's tight hallway first, followed by Steve, Natasha, Wanda and Peggy. Loki remained in the center with his brother, who was now gently carrying the still incapacitated Valkyrie with Bucky guarding them from behind. The God of Mischief had Valkyrie's small hand clutched within his own. Vision levitated above the ground, casting a bright light down upon the darkened facility from his eyes. Steve checked his watch quickly, revealing the time to be a little past nine PM.

"Bit late for dinner," He whispered to himself. Peggy smiled slyly from beside him, carrying a small derringer revolver in her lithe fingers. However, the two were interrupted when Vision's light struck a particularly shiny piece of equipment. Two voices rapidly began hushing each other and giggling, almost like two giddy school children. There was a sound of zippers, leather shifting, pneumatics hissing and metal clanking before dead silence. Steve quietly initiated the two diamond-shaped shields, holding them in front of himself. He turned back and signalled to his team to be silent before he moved forward slowly. He jumped at the sudden sound of insect wings flitting past him, as did Peggy and Bruce.

They all turned and jumped, however, when a heavy metal _clang_ echoed from outside the lab. Duller _clangs _were heard as the doors of the Stark Center were opened. They became louder and louder, getting closer and closer, heavier and heavier. Peggy pointed her gun down the thin hallway in preparation to shoot.

An updated version of Tony's Iron Legion Protocol roboticized suits from 2015 stepped into view at the end of the hall, illuminated by Vision. It was a dull, matte light grey with blue lines of paint and the number '003' painted on the chest. The bot raised its right hand and the high-pitched whir of the repulsor embedded within shot out. The bot spoke with an even, mechanized voice.

"Intruder alert. Please leave the premises immediately. Captain Steven Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Wanda Maximoff, Sergeant James Barnes; you are all under arrest for the violation of the Sokovia Accords. If you all come quietly, your sentences will be far more lenient," The bot warned. Natasha pushed the hammer of her gun down, Wanda readied her powers and Bucky tightened his robotic fist, but Cap waved them down with but a hand. 

"Current date?" Steve asked simply. The bot's eyes shifted and readjusted behind the mask before it answered,

"December sixteenth, two-thousand-seventeen," Suddenly, there was an even heavier _clang _outside the lab. The automatized suit turned as well, with only slightly quieter sounds following. They became closer, and as the other bot came into view, the first lowered its hand.

"I require assistance apprehending these crim-" The other suit suddenly jumped onto the first, wrapping its legs around the midsection. As the two came into Vision's light, the second suit revealed itself to be Rhodey, equipped in an old version of his heavy War Machine armour. The minigun on the left shoulder had clearly been replaced, and the light grey mask had a large, dark, faint stain from what could only have been ancient oil. 

The newer-model minigun on his shoulder suddenly opened fire upon the bot's face. The piercing sound of thick gunfire bounced off of the enclosed wall painfully as fresh brown-black shiny oil splattered everywhere. Sharp metal fragments fell to the ground alongside complicated robotics and pieces of machinery. Rhodey released the now dead robot from his grip and began hovering, the older technology roaring in comparison to the updated repulsor tech. Rhodey slammed down on the ground, cracking the strong tile beneath him.

"You guys fu-" A silver disc with three sharp prongs and a red, glowing light whizzed past and hit Rhodey's suit, and he suddenly disappeared in the middle of his comment. There was a moment of silence, and Rhodey didn't respond or reappear.

"Rhodey?" Steve called. Vision suddenly left the group, leaving them all in unilluminated darkness. His light shone down upon a very small figure as he picked it up. Rhodey was now about the size of a pencil eraser. 

"What the hell-" Steve's thought was interrupted by a hard punch against the back of his head. Within a quick second the Captain whirled around and swung the now full-size shield on his left wrist. 

Nothing was there.

Natasha was suddenly flipped onto her back, but again;_ nothing was there_. Steve watched as Natasha's arm was pinned behind her back and held by some odd force, leaving her unable to even move it. She shot one of the charges from her wrist-mounted 'Widow's Bite' but the electric taser just flew and hit the wall, fizzling out.

"What the Hell is going on?" Bucky shouted as he put his back to the wall. Whatever was attacking them, it knew how to fight, and Steve could tell from the fading throbbing on the back of his head, they knew how to punch.

**Meanwhile… **

"Hope!" Scott cried as Hope pinned one of the thugs' arms behind their back, using her new 'Wasp's Grapple' to keep it there. She nearly dodged a taser bolt fired from the wrist as her wings sprouted from her back and began flittering. For some reason, that move felt familiar to Scott, but he didn’t know why.

"What the Hell is going on?" Another shouted. So far, from his miniscule stature, Scott counted nine of them: six male and three female. Hope had just pinned one of the females to the ground, but with how agile and nimble the thug seemed it definitely would _not_ be for long. One of the other thugs- it somewhat looked like one of the women, but it was too dark to tell- suddenly shot the ground with a revolver, sending shards and grains of tile flying up. Hope very nearly dodged one and blew up another with a blast of super-compressed air from the ‘Stinger’ on her wrist.

“Scott, get the one on the wall!” Hope shouted, going to attack what seemed to be the leader. Scott signalled for one from their army of ants to assist him. His loyal flying ant for the last few weeks- who he named ‘Ant-oinette’- quickly fluttered down beside him. Scott mounted her small saddle and flew up to the large, very muscular male thug who pinned himself against the wall. He approached from the right side- at least, he thought so, it was incredibly dark, and he couldn’t make out details.

It was then that the Iron Legion bot he had shrunk with the Pym Particle disc earlier tackled him off of Ant-oinette, but of course that wasn’t enough. The machine took aim at the helpless creature he had been riding on and opened fire, killing her in seconds. Hope gasped as Ant-oinette’s guts- as well as Scott’s cries- flew past her. She turned to Scott only to see him ready his gauntlet to grow large, irrationally preparing himself to avenge Ant-oinette.

“Scott, wait!” She cried, yet it fell on deaf ears. Scott enlarged himself and kicked the small bot to the wall, cracking the white-painted surface and sending the machine into the insulation underneath with a puff of pink cotton-like fluff.

All of a sudden, a bright light shone down upon Scott’s enlarged form. It felt just like when he got arrested after returning the Ant-Man, and now it felt like he was going to be prosecuted. The memory kept him in place, but he readied his fists to fight. He couldn’t see past the light, but he knew that twenty eyes were on him. His eyes were hidden by the helm of his suit, but the suit itself was recognizable enough on it's own.

“Scott?” He recognized that voice. The voice of a leader. The voice of a hero- the voice of _his _hero. The voice of…

“Captain America?” He asked. The light ahead of him shifted, indeed revealing Captain America, dressed in casual wear- a white shirt under a leather jacket and brown jeans with powerful boots. His hands were hidden by tall diamond-shaped black sheets of metal, with ornate silver lines decorating the surfaces. Behind him was Bruce Banner, Wanda Maximoff- who he recognized all too quickly as ‘the girl with the shock collar’ from his time at the Raft after the Leipzig incident- and Thor, as well as Bucky Barnes, who was currently pressed against the wall and Natasha Romanoff, who was the one Hope had pinned on the floor. Thor had a hand cast before his brother, Loki, and had a light-brown skinned unconscious woman in his other arm. His axe, Stormbreaker, was attached to his back under his cape.

There was, however, another new girl who he didn’t recognize at all; She was just a little taller than Natasha, with nut-brown hair and eyes matching. She carried a small, double-barrelled derringer revolver, still leaking a thin stream of silver smoke from her shot. She was lithe and athletic, with an almond shaped faced that was as straight-laced and serious as the Captain's.

"What?" Hope asked, growing large just behind Scott. Her pointed mask receded into its half-ring around the back of her neck as she stared at the casually dressed Avengers. Even Natasha had managed to worm herself to stand behind Thor, her arm still tied to her back. "Oh, sorry about that," Hope mumbled. She flicked a small control on a panel that controlled the grapple. The four small hooks at either end of the rope released and allowed Natasha her arm back. She flexed her fingers and nodded a sarcastic thanks.

"Wait, if you guys are here, then who-" Scott suddenly recoiled to the side and shrunk down, disappearing from sight. A small explosion came from Hope's waist, specifically a glowing circle in the center of her belt- her regulator. She pressed the button on her right glove, but nothing happened. She pressed it again, and again and then rapidly. Nothing.

"Shit!" She twisted open her sparking regulator and toyed with a few wires. "No! The wires are completely fried! Scott! The regulator’s broken!” She fell to her knees, searching for Scott. She was nearly hit with the Iron Legion bot, but she managed to catch it. 

“You little bastard!” She shouted, curling her hand around it securely. Scott suddenly appeared beside her, the left lens on his helmet cracked with a small shard missing. He was panicking, trying to hit the retracting button on the side of the helmet.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit! Hope!” He cried, hitting a different button out of desperation. There was a hiss, and he pulled the helmet off entirely. He looked at the broken plastic in fear. Hope struggled to contain the tiny bot, when suddenly Steve stopped her.

“That’s not a bot, Hope! Take the disc off!” She looked at him unsurely before reluctantly and hesitantly flicking the disc off of the arm of the tiny robot. The figure grew instantly, hovering above Scott and Hope’s crouched forms. Rhodey put himself between Scott and Hope and the rest of the Avengers, activated every active weapon system within the War Machine suit; a right-wrist-mounted SMG, a left-wrist-mounted rocket launcher, the shoulder minigun, a small mortar loaded with fifteen projectiles- three across and five down- in the left shoulder, a large missile about as wide as Hope’s arm from the right, two large belt-loaded machine guns from a compartment in either leg and a small laser from between the suits’ eyes to signify where the armaments were aimed.

The dot fell right on Hope’s heart.

Hope felt her blood run cold and her throat lose all water when the mouth of the minigun looked her directly in the eyes. She instinctively clicked the button on her right glove, but all she received was a dull buzz and a fizz of sparks from her regulator, telling her there weren’t enough Pym Particles to shrink down. This was the first time in her life she had looked down the barrel of a gun without a way to escape and she was _scared_. Rhodey was irrational, angry, ready to kill, as proved by the leaking bot down the hall and Ant-oinette.

Rhodey hovered for what felt like hours before he asked, “Okay, so two questions for the two of you. One; what the Hell? And two; what- in the Hell- are you two even doing here?” He asked, Hope sitting completely still as the dot hovered over her chest while Scott's brain was working overtime trying to figure out the best move to both not die and keep Hope safe. But if it came to it, he would prioritize the latter.. When neither Hope nor Scott responded, Rhodey added, “You both got five seconds,” And almost impossibly fast, came beside Hope and aimed his left arm at her right temple. "Or Buzzy dies." He used the weapon to hit the same button Scott had during his panic, loosening Hope's helmet. He then smacked it off, revealing Hope's teary face.

Cap argued in rebuttal but only received the wrist-mounted gun pointed towards him and the rest of the group. Easily, they could overpower Rhodey with minimal casualties but the message was clear.

“Okay, okay, we came here to make more Pym particles, we’re running out! Hank gave us the formula to get us out for a while and he said he moved all the tech here!” Scott shouted, throwing every subtle, sneaky idea out the window and pushing Rhodey, putting himself between him and Hope. In his hand was a black security card with white text- illuminated still thanks to Vision’s light- that read ‘STARK’, the same as the one Steve had in his back pocket. Reflexively, Rogers checked his back pocket and found that his card was indeed still there.

“Then why- again, in the Hell- did you attack?” Rhodey shouted, his weapons clicking as they became live. Scott and Hope both panicked further as the high whirring of the spinning missile in Rhodey’s right shoulder ground their nerves. Hope was scared silent, but her eyes shot open further behind Scott. She was frozen to the spot, but had she Particles to fight with, she would shrink down and punch Rhodey right in the face, making sure she penetrated the armour. But as it was, she just had to hope her lover kept his cool.

“Because when we threw the light out and couldn’t see shit we heard gunfire! So yeah, no shit we’re gonna attack!” Scott shouted in anger. Hope had tears of fear edging her eyes, scared that too much loss of control on Scott's part would cost him his life. Even when Rhodey moved closer, Scott still stood between his lover and The War Machine, the laser piercing his chest. The weapons weren’t going down, but neither was he.

“Okay, look. I used the rest of my particles in the fight,” Scott brought his right hand in front of him and pressed the button, the only response a quiet, low buzz. Nothing.

“See?” He whispered, putting his arms down. Rhodey stayed still for a minute, keeping Hope and Scott on the harsh, cold edge of existential paranoia. Hope was shaking in fear, now more worried for her lover than herself. Rhodey's minigun was still forever, and the entire time Hope couldn’t bring herself to speak, only releasing a dry puff of air when Scott looked to her. Scott returned his gaze to the minigun, awaiting a movement, a twitch, _something_ to signify his fate.

But what he surely didn't expect was it to begin spinning and suddenly belt out bullets. Orange flickers lit the hall and the roar of the old rockets was deafened as the supersonic metal projectiles tore through the fabric of the Ant-Man suit, sending spatters of blood from the entry wounds. Scott's placement fulfilled his goal; only a few bullets made it through him, and none of them hit Hope. She felt her heart die nonetheless as Scott's blood painted her face. She watched in silent horror as Rhodey's minigun slowed to a stop, the six inner barrels sending out streams of smoke. Scott's fading body fell back, his head falling into her lap. Drops hit his dying forehead as Hope cried silently. Scott's jade eyes begged her to not die, to let him live, to give him a second chance. But, powerĺessly, Hope watched as all the light died behind his eyes. He breathed one last time before he fell utterly still and silent. Hope swore she heard an ominous bell tolling Scott's death, drowning out her cries.

Hope's living nightmare was shattered when the silence of the roaring rockets sharply ended and Rhodey suddenly slammed onto the ground and retracted all of his weapons, closed the doors of his shoulder compartments and allowed the shoulder-mounted minigun to fall into its neutral position, pointed skyward. The machine guns clicked as they folded into themselves before they folded back into Rhodey’s legs and the laser disengaged, allowing Scott to breathe again. He was whole, still standing and perfectly fine.

“Cool. Maybe say ‘hello’ before trying to kill everybody next time." The mask of the old suit altered Rhodey’s voice to sound even more menacing than usual. He turned towards the entry of the lab a few metres ahead and walked ahead of the others.. 

Scott helped Hope over to the side of the tight hall, allowing the others to pass. Natasha warranted a somewhat empathetic look to Hope before quickly moving on. Only Scott stayed behind with her. She stared straight ahead at the blank wall, still shaking from the tension. Scott could tell, the sound of those weapons arming would be something that Hope would unfortunately never forget. He was shaken, but after three years in San Quentin and a month in The Raft, he wasn’t so easily broken. 

But Hope, even though she was certainly tough, she had never seen down the barrel of a gun without a way to escape. Even as the Wasp, she always had her instincts and the Pym Particles to save her.

“Hope? Hope, look at me. You’re okay, you’re good,” He assured, taking hold of her face with both of his hands. She looked at him, shaking, her dark olive eyes tinted with tears. She gingerly wrapped her arms around Scott's midsection, searching for her imaginary bullet holes she had watched open. She looked up to Scott and threw herself forward onto him, placing her hips on his. Her knees made contact with the tile as she grabbed Scott's shoulders and crushed her lips against his. Her tears rolled down her face onto his as he grabbed the back of her head. 

A few long, hot moments later, when her lungs began burning, she separated with a quiet _smick._ Scott stared at her, his colourful green eyes glowing as they widened. Hope's chest rose and fell at the same pace as his, synchronized and even. He brought up his hand and wiped her tears away with a finger before lovingly placing his hand on her cheek. She laughed shakily as he leaned up into a softer, more conservative kiss. 

“You’re okay, Hope.”

**To Be Continued...**


	5. Chapter IV: Unrelenting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers analyze Valkyrie's body and find some... Interesting information, while Bruce continues to help Natasha on her journey of recovery. But, something horrible happens, something that may have disastrous consequences. And will Scott and Hope be able to recover? Only Time will tell...

**Avengers: Reforged IV: Unrelenting**

**Earth- 199 621, 2023**

**The Benetar**

Peter Quill- now practically universally known as the hero-but-still-"outlaw" Star-Lord- and his team were soaring through the cosmos, Quill in search of one thing:

Gamora.

Almost a month ago, he saw her again after what he assumed to be the last time he'd ever see her; Her flawless olive skin, her beautiful maroon eyes, her dark evergreen lips… She had been real, not an imagination. He needed to find her, and he and Rocket were searching every database he could find to track her down.

"Quill, you're sure you weren't on somethin' during that fight? It was pretty damn intense" Rocket asked, assisting with the search. After Groot's second death five years ago, Rocket had softened up a little. He still remembered the hot-blooded redhead human girl from Earth being particularly easy to talk to, as well as Nebula softening up- particularly with the Stark kid. But, now he was helping Quill look for someone who very well may not exist.

"No, Rocket, I'm not 'on anything' now and I wasn't then. It  _ was  _ Gamora, okay?" Quill was getting short. Two weeks they had gone to every report of a 'slim-bodied, green-skinned, black-haired woman trying to kill someone', and nothing truly important had turned up.

"I am Groot," Groot mumbled from behind Rocket, his video game heeping. Rocket sighed before replying,

"No, she would not be on Planet X, Groot." 

"I am Groot,"

"Gamora's one of the deadliest warriors in the frickin' galaxy! She would  _ not  _ have been kidnapped!" Rocket said incredulously.

"I am Groot," 

"Yeah- okay, we kidnapped her once for, like five minutes!" Rocket responded.

"I am Groot?" Rocket opened his mouth to say something, but Quill beat him to it.

"Wait… what did you say?" Quill turned quickly to Groot.

"I am Groot?" Groot repeated before returning to his game. Rocket sighed as the game resumed beeping.

"Different strategy…" Quill whispered, looking to the search algorithm Rocket and Nebula had built with an entirely new view. 

"Different strategy."

**Upstate New York Stark Lab**

Scott Lang was trapped on the floor of a tight hallway, pinned down by his desperate lover, Hope van Dyne. She had her lips crushed against his, chewing away hungrily at his fast-fading resolve. He could tell that the sprouting erection now pressing against her inner thigh wasn't exactly calming things either. If fact, it actually reminded him of before the Avengers had arrived...

**Two Hours Earlier…**

Luis pulled up to the darkened lab as it cast an ominous aura in the evening light. He looked at the picture Scott had pulled up and did a double-take more than once. 

"You sure this' the place, Scotty? I'm gettin' serious abandoned, haunted house vibes, man," He commented to Scott, who was in the back seat of their new 'X-Con Security' van. Hope was beside him, going over the Pym Particle formula, keeping it brief enough Luis wouldn't be able to chatterbox it to anyone else in any kind of coherent manner.

Scott looked out the window to the lab and made a face of mild affirmation. "Yup. Come on Hope," Hope cracked open the side door and jumped out with her purse on her elbow, followed promptly by Scott, carrying the sheet with the Pym Particle formula listed on it. "Thanks, Luis!" Scott shouted as Luis took off. The man waved at window with a "Good luck, Scotty!"

Hope shivered in the evening light, her light blue camisole under a thin dark blue button-up sweater not quite enough to shield her from the chill. Her thin black leggings weren't helping for the cold much, but when she turned to where Luis had driven off, Scott had to fight every atom in his being to not give her perky, shapely butt a playful squeeze. His eyes, however, were glued as a passing car's headlights- as well as the tight fabric of her leggings- emphasised the roundness of her ass, leading down to her strong, thick legs that made his mouth water as he stared at the beautiful curves.

He had a sudden memory of one of his early training sessions with Hope when he was only first becoming Ant-Man, when she had jumped against him and clamped his neck with her strong thighs before bringing him to the ground. Whether it was intentional or not, he had left that session in a hurry with a- hopefully well-hidden- erection after catching a hot, musky breath of her thinly-veiled vagina. The training had been intense that round, and therefore both of them had been sweaty and hot. Whether it meant he was weird or not, Scott was fine admitting to himself that- even sweaty- Hope looked and smelled  _ amazing _ . Something about her natural scent drew him in, took hold of his imagination in the most  _ primal  _ way, caused him to want her- to  _ need  _ her.

Hope crossed her arms and rubbed her biceps, doing her best to warm herself up. She turned back to Scott, who looked up to her abruptly as her movement cut off his remembrance. They were relatively eye-level, as Hope was only three inches shorter than Scott. She took in his appearance quickly- a black t-shirt under a dark red hoodie and jeans with black sneakers he had clearly owned for a while. He was also turning ever so red, his eyes were wide and laser-focused on her own and he was as rigid as a rock, immediately giving away the fact that he had been staring at her ass. She giggled sweetly and hugged Scott, pressing her body against his. She snaked her arms around him inside of his red hoodie, reveling in his superior body heat. Her purse bunched up his sweater slightly, but he was clearly unfazed.

Scott kissed the top of her head in relief that she wasn't mad, smelling the rather florally-scented shampoo she had been using since he met her. At this point, it was practically a reassuratory method to tell him it was still Hope in his arms. The first time he had noticed the scent was the first time they had made love, just a month after Scott had destroyed the Yellowjacket in 2015, when he helped her train to be the Wasp. He had ducked to her neck and suckled when the smell hit him, enticing him to go further.

Hope nuzzled into his dark-coloured shirt in response, catching the faintest scent of his manly- almost musky- cologne. Luckily, Scott understood that the smallest amount of the stuff caused the best reactions, especially with her. The first time she had smelled it on him was when Scott and her father were training her to take her mother's mantle as 'The Wasp'. After a particularly intense match, Scott had roped her into a short hug. It was only for the briefest of moments she had sensed it, but it was more than enough to cloud her mind indefinitely with Scott Lang. But even without it, his personal musk was quite enough to attract her. Something about his smell brought about a sense of pure, undisturbed manhood.

It had been a few long, silent, warm minutes- or hours, it was hard to tell- of them enjoying each other's smells when another, harder shiver passed down Hope's spine.

"Okay, time to make some particles," Hope said, reluctantly withdrawing her arms from around her wonder-scented lover. But, when she went to turn to begin up the simple granite stairs of the lab, Scott stopped her by grabbing the edges of her sweater. He slowly, almost sensually did up her buttons, his stare intense as every button threaded through their proper slit. It reignited memories of Janet buttoning her up for earlier years in school, but somehow deeper, more hard-set in the throes of passion, to the point where Janet was actually Scott, and Hope was her current age, and in some odd way the old memory became a new one.

Hope looked at Scott lovingly. Lovingly may not have even been the right word. It was like there wasn't even a word to properly describe how she looked at him. She stared as if the word she was looking for dripped with bubbling, enrapturing warmth, like it was a warm, juicy word that could only be said with tears streaming and a shattering voice. A word only applicable to the deepest of loves, the most intense of romances. Any other use would be overstating, any other use would be a  _ disgrace _ to the word. She yearned for him in every discribable and indescribable manner; his touch, his kisses, his thoughts. Every part of him, she wanted. Every selfless action made her desire somehow deeper, every goofy smile brought one endeared to hers, every simple  _ look _ caused her heart to hit her ribs a little harder, and every touch left the most beautiful, enduring, heartfelt scar that she would often rub over herself during the nights- especially those where they found themselves separated. Even though how much past her would have hating admitted it, their divide- physically, emotionally, obligationally- during the Sokovia Accords Disaster slowly consumed her inside. She hated him so much during those two years, hate that she didn’t mean, even then. Sure, she was angry, but she still needed him back then, she still  _ wanted  _ him.

Hope's olive eyes twinkled as he smiled to her. God, her eyes were one of the  _ countless _ he loved about her. Her eyes, her hair, her curves, her strength. But the thing he loved most of all- however clichè it was to say- was Hope's  _ mind _ . Her personality- strong, loving, resilient- her memories- however rough, painful or tragic- her passions- her feverish need to help, her love for her family, her  _ passion _ for him. Without her mind, Hope wouldn't be Hope. She would be another woman, a woman who wouldn't want to be a superhero, a woman who didn't have the emotional nor the physical scars that made her the Hope he yearned for. And that was a concept he vehemently feared, an idea he toxically hated. His love for Hope wasn't only based on her body, her scents, her smiles. No, that was just sweet, sweet drizzle on top of the most beautiful, alluring, divine dish he had ever seen, let alone  _ taste _ \- and that dish was her mind, the mind that was a whirlpool of love for him, a black hole of nothing but what he desired.

A chaste kiss upon Hope's gentle lips and they began the walk up to the darkened lab. The granite slabs up the the door were wide and broad, and as they reached the door Scott slipped the card through the small slit of a lock. There was a fresh beep and FRIDAY- Stark's Irish-tinged AI- responded,

"Welcome, Doctor Hank Pym," The door  _ swished  _ open swiftly, and the two entered, Scott after Hope. It was black as pitch, with a large lobby. There was a heavy desk against the left wall with a high-tech computer on the table with a keyboard and mouse, as well as several hallways leading to different sections of the building, with a staircase leading up to the next floor on the right. Hope pulled a small pen flashlight from her sweater and clicked it on, casting a focused white beam around the empty lobby. The beam fell upon a hanging sign above the doorway, illuminating the words;

" _ Laboratory, Bio-Organics Lab, Pym Lab,"  _ Hope scoffed at the titles before following Scott down the hall. It was a tight hall, barely large enough for her to fully stretch her arms. Scott neared the end of the hall and stared at a door with another keycard lock. He flicked the black card through the slot and heard FRIDAY respond again,

"Welcome to the lab, Doctor Pym," Scott entered, Hope's light the only thing brightening the room. Scott scoured the wall for a light switch, but found nothing. Hope traveled across the room and flipped on a desk lamp, casting a short orange glow around the room. Across from Scott there was another sign labeled " _ Pym Lab"  _ and next to it another, this one with, " _ Banner Lab _ ". Both led to separate sections, with specialized tech for the designated doctors. Hope slowly passed the Pym Lab sign and illuminated another orange-lit desk lamp. Hope left Scott with the lamp she had just switched on and returned to what appeared to be Stark's work table- with Iron Man schematics, prototype nanobots and metal fragments scattered about- and turned off the lamp. The orange glow from Scott's lamp was now the only light source as Hope also clicked off her pen light. The dull light cast tantalising shadows over Hope's still form, allowing Scott to fully and truly embrace the curve and roundness of his lover's ass as it stared back at him.

It was perky, round and malleable, yet stiff and resilient. Her thighs were similar; thick, alluring, strong and supple. Hope turned her head to Scott but kept her back to him. He heard her breathing- even, steady, sure, yet the underlying sense of the loss of control laden underneath, much like his own. She turned her eyes back to the darkened lamp and released a quiet sigh, Scott still intensely grappled with her butt.

Not that she was arguing- his gaze felt hungry, passionate, intense, like he was ready to devour her whole- and it sparked something… _powerful_ within her, something deep within her, so deep that if she spread her legs she felt a light would come for her core. She shakily swallowed her arousal and slowly, she slid her hands down her body to the inner pockets of her leggings. Scott thought she was reaching for something, and slowly- teasingly slowly- she pulled out a white-painted updated Ant-Communicator and began signalling a herd of ants. They marched in like soldiers and slowly began climbing the wall like a sentient string. They climbed until they reached a white security camera in the corner of the ceiling. They coalesced over the lens, leaving the two superheroes entirely unsupervised. She pressed a button on the new device, and the ants stayed over the camera even when Hope brought the device from her ear. 

"Oh, that's cool!" Scott whispered. Hope chuckled at his childlike wonder. He brought his eyes to her back, shielded by her blue sweater. Slowly, she began unbuttoning and dragging her sweater off, revealing her sky-blue camisole and her creamy, flawless flesh. What caught Scott off-guard was the fact that he could see no other straps under the garment. He silently swallowed as his mind got entirely carried away with the possibilities, but everything he could have imagined was  _ vastly _ wrong, leaving him caught incredibly off-guard by her next move. 

She reached back down to the waistband of her leggings, but instead of going back into her pockets she pulled the waistband away from her sides until they were as wide as her hips. She slowly edged them down, inch by inch. Scott could only stare in paralyzed, silent apprehension as the roundness of Hope's nude ass became ever more apparent. However tight the fabric of her leggings were, the shadows cast by the orange light somehow emphasised the tight but firm nature of her ass as her flesh slowly became more and more visible. She let the waistband clamp back down under the curve of her hips, allowing Scott to stare for a moment. When a breath came from her, Scott held his, worried any noise from him would break her out of the trance she seemed to be in. After a silent moment, Hope traveled back up to the hem of her camisole and crossed her arms before gripping it gingerly. She began lifting it over her, revealing the curve of her sculpted, shapely back. Scott followed the band of the shirt diligently as it passed her abdomen. He licked his lips subconsciously when the hem reached the curve of her breasts. She hesitated for a second, only a second, before pulling off her shirt, her unveiled back still turned back to Scott. He almost gasped when what he could see of her breasts bounced from their slight fall, as did her hair that fell just below her sharp, rigid shoulder blades- so sharp they could cut glass.

She turned, her ass now pressed against the ledge of the table, her half-erect breasts facing him. Her nipples were pink, small and soft, but perfect for her body. He stared at her breasts for what felt like hours until Hope slowly began approaching him. He looked up to her eyes when she began moving, keeping his eyes on hers despite the slight bouncing just below her collarbone. She stood straight up in front of Scott and slowly bent down, dragging her leggings down her pristine, peachy thighs. 

Scott almost stopped breathing altogether when Hope's vagina, slightly glistening from arousal, hit the air. A small fluff of her dark chocolate hair rested above, smooth and shiny. He heard the quietest of gasps of surprise from her before she continued carrying down her leggings, passing over her powerful calves before they reached her ankles. She stretched the ankle of her pants over her sneaker, and pulled it off. She repeated the action with her other shoe, leaving her entirely nude from her shoes up. Scott stared her in the face before rushedly discarded his sweater and his shirt before promptly moving to the button of his jeans. 

Hope licked her teeth when Scott's lean, muscled body, tight and refined, came into view from underneath his shirt, and the shadows his erection created already toying with her heartbeat. The button of his jeans popped from the slit and the zipper followed thereafter, revealing a grey pair of boxers. Scott's erection pushed into the air, still constrained and almost painfully- for the both of them- restrained against the fabric. Hope smiled and bit her bottom lip, tugging it into her mouth slightly. Her sap-coloured eyes peered into his grass own as she reached her hand around the band of both his jeans and boxers, slowly tugging them down Scott's body. Once they passed the ridge of his hips, they fell to his ankles, which he promptly stepped out of.

They both stood- their bodies heating the air around them- for countless minutes, both of them with flushed chests and faces before Hope suddenly turned and moved towards a desk with complicated machinery, vials and beakers. Her lithe ass faced him, making him swallow as his imagination ran away from him.

"Let's make some particles, Scott." 

This woman was going to  _ kill _ him.

**Present**

His mind was becoming clouded, but there was a nagging sense of being watched that caused Scott to slowly break the kiss.

It was a sudden bang, though, of someone being slammed against a wall that brought the two fully apart. Hope jumped off of her boyfriend and stood, putting Scott between her and the noise. She felt her entire body tense up and her eyes become pinpricks. Again, she instinctively clicked the button on the right glove of her suit, this time receiving a spark from her regulator. Luckily, she wasn't shocked, as her father had actually made a small “update” to the suits in the past weeks; After Hope had told him about the malfunctioning sizing coils and the electrical shock Scott had received in the janitor’s closet at Cassie's school, Hank had since fixed the sizing coil problem but he also insulated the regulator better, so when they did occasionally spark it wouldn’t affect the wearer. A very small part of felt bad for her reaction, but the loud sound was far too close to a gunshot for her recently broken psyche. Her mind was then slingshot back to the moment she felt the cool metal barrel to her temple. Shivers ricocheted down her back when her brain replayed the heavy  _ ka-chunk  _ of the rocket falling into place just next to her ear.

Scott slowly entered the lab with Hope following close behind, watching as Captain America pinned a now armourless Rhodey- his armour was in some kind of sentinel mode in the corner- against the wall. For a moment, the robot turned to Cap, but eventually resumed its neutral stance.

"What the Hell was that, Rhodes?" Steve questioned, enraged. Rhodey was neutral, his face unresponsive. He sneered as Scott approached, angry and silently demanding a response.

“They attacked. I defended. That simple, Steve,” Rhodey scoffed, staring Scott down. Hope looked away, unable to keep her eyes on his face for more than a few seconds. She couldn’t even hear his voice without feeling the cool ring against her head, and the feeling of warm blood droplets on her face as the memory of Scott falling backwards, dead, resurged through her mind. Her breath caught in her throat, leaving her unable to breathe. She could still feel Rhodey’s indignant stare on the back of her head as her breath stayed just inside of her throat.

“Rhodey, it was a defensive measure, we know these people. And they only attacked because  _ you _ opened fire!” Steve shouted, releasing Rhodey onto the floor. Scott nodded behind Steve as Natasha walked up to Hope, who was still struggling to breathe. The redhead led her out of the lab, leaving the door open behind them.

“Hey. You good?” Natasha asked as Hope gasped in a breath. Her chest, still covered by her Wasp suit, heaved with her, the silver breastplates casting a golden glow on the wall opposite with the leaking orange light from the lab. Hope fervently shook her head, and she put her hands against the wall shakily to stabilize herself. Scott emerged from the lab, standing opposite Hope. The brunette stared at him before turning back to Natasha.

“I… I watched Sc- Scott die…” She choked out, new tears of remembrance welling up behind her hazel-green eyes. Natasha nodded, unfortunately and uncomfortably understanding what she meant. Scott, however, became alert to Hope’s words. She looked to him again, her eyes quivering as the memory kept replaying behind her eyes.

“Hope…” He whispered, approaching her and wrapping her warmly in his arms. He slowly slid down the wall, Hope traveling with him. He looked to the cracked lens of his nearby helmet and sighed.

“What's so bad about the crack, other than the obvious?” Natsaha asked in an attempt to distract the panicking superhero, following his gaze. A few weeks ago, she had donned a similar suit, but she assumed the helmet was to protect her in case of emergency in space. Scott didn't really go to space all that much as Ant-Man- at least, not that she knew.

“Pym Particles are incredibly volatile on the human mind- ants are unaffected due to their more simplistic minds- so you have to wear a sealed, specialized helmet, or else the particles’ll… Mess with your brain.” Scott sighed, cradling Hope’s head in his arms. She laughed nervously at his complicated explanation- too complicated to be his own. She licked her lips before laughing,

“You do remember what Dad says,” She licked her lips again. “I thought it was just in one ear, out the other with you,” He smiled at her response before whispering,

“Only when it’s about having to stop dating you,” Hope chuckled tearfully, readjusting her body so her legs sprawled down the hall, her head tucked safely in Scott’s lap. He ran his hand through Hope’s hair, comforting her. She closed her eyes as a single tear fell, caught by Scott’s other hand. He flicked it away and smiled as her breathing began to even again.

“I don’t think Hope can go back in there,” Scott began, looking to Natasha. “I’m gonna go in there, get the particles and bring her home. She needs to sleep.” He sighed. The redheaded Avenger nodded slowly, thinking of something else. “Can you stay with her? I don’t want her to be alone.” Scott asked. Natasha shook her head with,

“Uh, no. She needs  _ you _ , I can grab your stuff. What is it?” She asked, standing for the wall she had been leaning against.

“Really? Thank you. There are two metal jugs with glass windows. In one there’s a red fluid and there’s one with blue. They’re pretty light. I think Hope’s purse is in there too. Thank you,” Scott repeated, smiling to Natsaha. She nodded and re-entered the room, finding only Rhodey and Steve in the room. Banner, Loki, Thor, Wanda, Vision and Peggy had taken the unconscious Valkyrie into Banner’s section of the lab, readying her for the full-body scan.

“What’s up, Nat?” Rhodey asked, all too casually for the shit he just pulled. She didn’t answer, passing him by and reaching Pym’s section of the lab. There were indeed a jug filled with a red liquid with a strip of aged masking tape labelled ‘Shrink=Red’ scrawled on it in what Natasha could only estimate was a seven-year-old's hand, and an identical jug with blue liquid and another piece of tape with ‘Grow=Blue’ in the same writing on it. Natasha picked them both up, and they were surprisingly light for their size- they looked like they could hold about six or seven liters of fluid each, with sturdy handles arcing over the top. They were certainly weighty, but lighter than, say, water would have been. 

Beside the one labelled ‘Shrink=Red’ was a black, leather purse with a golden zipper on the top, currently closed. The redhead took the purse in two of her fingers, the purse just lighter than the two jugs, somehow. Though, the load was easy enough.

Once again she coldly brushed past Rhodey and exited the lab, finding Scott and Hope both stood up. Scott took both of the jugs of Particles in a single hand, his other occupied by Hope’s. Hope gingerly took her heavy purse, settling it onto her shoulder. Scott bent down the collect their two helmets. He settled Hope’s pointed, bee-shaped mask onto her face with a click. He then pressed a button just under the left antennae of the helmet, retracting the suit into the small ring around her neck. He did the same with his own broken helmet. When his gun-metal grey helmet disappeared, Hope leaned up and pecked Scott’s stubbled cheek lovingly.

“Thank you,” Hope whispered to Natasha, her stare absorbed in the floor. Natasha swallowed her words and nodded slowly as the two turned to leave, Scott helping a mentally numb Hope down the hall. Scott pulled his phone out of Hope's purse and dialed someone, asking them to pick both of them up.

Natasha’s face faded as Hope walked out. She didn’t  _ know _ Hope, but from the few minutes she had seen of the woman a few weeks ago, as well as Scott’s word about her a few weeks ago, she guessed that Hope was joyful, full of life and spice. But this Hope… Quiet, disconnected from reality, shivering and fearful, as if she were afraid to talk- to  _ breathe _ \- lest she or another be filled with bullets.. It felt all too understandable to the redheaded Avenger, as she was also currently going through it. It may not have been the same trauma, but the results were similar enough for Natasha to sympathize. As Hope and Scott found the exit of the building, the Wasp-lady rested her head on Scott’s shoulder and nestled into his arms, keeping herself warm and safe, despite her quite battle-capable suit.

It wasn’t the Wasp  _ suit  _ that wasn’t capable, Natasha thought, it was the Wasp herself. Hope was in no condition to fight. Not physically though- Hope actually seemed very strong and capable still, but it was her mind that wasn’t ready. Her mind was broken, scared, like a small animal. A small, innocent animal held at gunpoint.

And she knew the cause. Everyone knew the cause. Natasha felt her brow furrow when the scene of Rhodey holding Scott and Hope at gunpoint reemerged in her mind. The cocking of his gun was the worst part, because Vision’s light had illuminated her face of fear and desperation- desperation to survive, to be freed. Natasha heard a crack as her fist ightened beyond human levels. Any tighter and her hand would become a black hole, set to devastatingly consume everything. 

She turned back and reentered the lab, Steve and Rhodey still the only people in the lab, Rhodey’s suit keeping a careful mechanized eye on the two. Steve’s shields were in their reduced state, barely noticeable under his sleeves. He was leaning, arms crossed and a pissed-off glare to Rhodey, against the doorway to the Bio-Organics lab, where Natasha could see the rest of the group. 

Peggy, Vision and Wanda worked on hooking the machine to Valkyrie’s slim, sleek body. Her sleeves were rolled up, electrodes placed on her arms. Loki stood- with Thor’s help- and placed two more electrodes under her shirt. He swallowed sadly as he stroked her soft face, lingering on her cheek. He could have sworn her eyes fluttered behind her eyelids. Wanda looked apologetically to the withered God before she gently handed him a large net made of wires and electrodes. Loki nodded silently and nestled it onto Valkyrie’s head. The screen at the end of the machine lit up. Bucky approached the screen and waved over Bruce, who was taking notes. Vision rested his arm and Valkyrie’s- with a cursory glare from Loki- and scanned her, his eyes flashing yellow and spinning. He nodded and retracted his hand slowly, as if in contemplation.

Despite the situation- both with Valkyrie’s unconsciousness as well as Rhodes’ bullshit- the dim orange lit of a desk lamp nearby lit Bruce’s face perfectly. Every wrinkle, every edge, every curve was illuminated  _ perfectly. _ His glasses were tauntingly covering his eyes, but when he approached the screen, he removed the- unknown to him- problem. His deep, shiny brown eyes stared in careful consideration and his lips fell into their natural pursed state. His tight curly hair was black at the ends, but the closer to his tanned skin it became the lighter it got, greying slowly. It was not something most women would find, attractive, or sexy, nor alluring, but Hell- she was  _ not  _ most women. The wise disposition he exuded- and kind of lived up to as well, in certain situations- attracted her wildly, especially in the dim, moody lighting of the lab. Natasha had to turn her head and regain control of her heart as she felt her face heating up. Ten years ago, maybe even five, she would have scolded herself for having what honestly seemed a childhood crush, but now, especially with her current mental state, she didn’t care. 

At all.

It felt good, quite honestly, to embrace something she had looked down upon almost her entire life. She looked back to Bruce, who took an open opportunity to smile to her. She responded with a wink that she could tell turned him a little red under his collar.

She had been in love before. Her face fell as she remembered… Clint. Yes, when they had first met- when he saved her life, directly disobeying the orders of Nicholas J. Fury, one of the most dangerous men, even now- she had felt the pang of love from her then-untrained heart hit her. Ever since then, she had kept it hidden from him, especially when he began talking about his family, his wife-

‘ _ You mean the wife who killed herself because of you? _ ’ The voice hissed. Almost as if another of her super-spy reflexes, Natasha felt her back back stiffen and her blood run cold. Unknowingly, she also whispered, ”No,” which caught only two peoples’ attention; Vision with his supercomputer brain and sound sensitivity and …

Bruce. His eyes came off of the preliminary results for Valkyrie and onto her own body again. She fought a winning battle to stand up straight when her thoughts returned to Laura's body, as well as the voice reprimanding her, taunting her. Bruce pointed to the screen and whispered, "Anything happens, call me over.” Bucky nodded and turned to the screen.

Bruce neared Natasha, watching carefully as she absentmindedly analyzed the lab floor. He placed a hand on her arm, causing her to snap out of her depressive trance. She looked to him, her eyes begging him to come closer.

“Is…  _ it  _ back?” He asked simply. ‘ _ How did he know about the voice _ ?’ She asked herself. As if he read her mind, he whispered, “I’ve been there, Nat. I know how it feels, and I know… what happens when you…  _ think _ you killed someone,” He was clearly stepping on eggshells, but with him it was entirely different from anyone else. She knew he didn’t think he killed Laura, even if she knew no one else thought so either. 

She let out a breathy laugh at his nervous discretion and she nodded quickly as his hand fell to her own and squeezed it. She smiled to Bruce, her bandaged hand- the one he wasn’t squeezing, or else he might not have seen tomorrow- aching with the memory of punching her mirrors. “Are you seeing her again?” Bruce asked when Natasha looked into the shiny surface of a nearby table. She looked back to him and shook her head no after a moment. Bruce nodded slowly, but watched her gaze return to the surface. Her smile dropped when her reflection stared back at her. However, the hair on the back of her neck spiked when she sensed something nearby. It wasn’t Rhodes, and it wasn’t Steve, either. It was something else, something stealthy that only she could sense, like a spider crawling on her arm.

Within only a second, she had her gun out and aimed in the direction of whatever she was feeling, which happened to be a roof corner of the room that lead to Tony’s lab. Bruce’s gaze immediately snapped to her aim, as well as Wanda’s eyes widening when she saw the gun, though she didn’t move. Vision took a careful, defensive step before her, but kept a close eye on Natasha. Wanda tucked herself behind Vision, taking a note from the Avengers’ leader and using him as her own invincible shield. He smiled to her, which she returned.

“Who’s there?” Natasha spoke to the corner. There was no response, but she still felt the  _ thing  _ there. “These walls are thin and this gun is powerful; I’m giving you to the count of three to come out.” Still no response. She felt like a mother scolding her children as she began. “One.” No reaction whatsoever. “Two.” She felt the sensation of the being adjust itself nervously. “Three.” She brought down the hammer of her gun with a dangerous click and readied her finger to shoot before two hands shot down from… The ceiling? 

“Okay, okay!” A young, Queens-accented voice shouted. A teenager- no older than a high-school student- came out of a vent that was around the corner, sticking to the ceiling. His body was slim and fit, covered by a red and blue suit with a black webbing pattern and golden highlights over it. There were white, sharp lenses on the mask, and both were glowing white. The suit had a metallic sheen to it, obviously recently polished. On the kid’s chest was a black spider emblem, with four of its legs pointed upwards and the other four downwards.

“Peter?” Banner asked, looking to the teen. The mask receded from his face, clearly crafted from some form of nanobots, probably Tony’s with how advanced they seemed. A youthful face stood in its place, with puffy brown hair hanging from his scalp. The teen suddenly fell from the ceiling, but managed to maneuver his body to land on his feet. The kid was a slight bit taller than Natasha and the same height as Bruce, somehow. A smile grew on his face before he asked,

“Doctor Banner? Black Widow?” He sounded confused but joyful, his childlike wonder steadying Natasha’s nerves somewhat. He didn’t seem alarmed at all to be looking down the barrel of The Black Widow’s gun, and his clear nerve was admirable for someone his age, as most twice his age shook under the barrel of the Black Widow.

“We know this kid?” She looked to Bruce but kept her gun trained on the kid in front of her, who nodded. Peter moved forward and offered his hand for a shake, rushedly saying,

“I’m Peter. Parker. I mean, I’m Spider-Man, from the airport? And that crazy fight a couple weeks ago.” He was clearly excited, but on edge and nervous at the same time. Natasha felt the memories come back to her, remember seeing the kid attached to a flying Mjolnir with a web, holding the Tech Gauntlet. She disarmed her pistol and put it back in its holster on her belt as Parker disengaged his suit, watching it return to a small, thick bracelet he wore, the bracelet the same colors as the suit. He shook the woman’s offered hand before Bruce followed after, shaking the teen’s hand respectfully. They both watched the teen’s grin of childlike wonder grow. “What are you guys doing here?” He asked.

Bruce stood back to reveal Valkyrie, hooked up to the machine with Loki standing over her. Thor stood nearby, patting his brother’s shoulder. Wanda and Vision stood near her feet, speaking in a different language. Bucky, who Peter only knew as the ‘metal-armed dude from the airport’ was intently watching a screen, waiting for something to happen. 

“What happened to Miss Valkyrie?” Peter asked, looking to Bruce. He looked back to her and told the story of the dart with a tranquilizer and Loki’s panic. Peter nodded along, his excellent studies in science class paying off as he could understand even the more complex ideas Bruce spoke of. Natasha turned her gaze back to Valkyrie, her light-skinned hand clutched in Loki’s own. He looked worried, and beneath that he was weak, almost sickly. He was a stark contrast to what she remembered of him eleven years ago- holy shit, was 2012 really  _ eleven _ years ago- when he brought an alien siege to New York, hypnotized one of Earth’s best scientists and her best friend, as well as scared her near to death with the Hulk. 

Back then, he was strong, full of life and evil intent. But now, he was gentle, concerned, and he looked as if he wanted to trade places with his Queen. His change in attitude brought her mind to the thought of people’s ability to change, to grow past what they once were.

‘ _ Too bad you can’t, what with that bloody ledger of yours. You always think you can change, but you refuse to. You always think yourself a hero, but we both know you couldn’t stay good for more than a week. And you know I’m right… Natalia.’ _ The voice’s use of her birth name sent paralysing shivers down her back, making her visibly stiffen. Both Bruce and Peter noticed, but the teen quickly waved it away as he approached Valkyrie. Loki looked up to him as threateningly as possible, but the dark bags under his eyes and his pale, thin disposition lessened the threatening to unsubstantial levels to successfully intimidate the teen. 

“Is she gonna be okay?” He asked, turning back to Bruce, who nodded slowly. “You said it was only a tranquilizer, how long’s it been since she was hit?”

“Only about an hour, maybe hour and a half.” Loki answered quietly, yet sharply. It was then that Bucky called for Bruce, something changing on the screen. Bruce came back over and analysed the screen- unaware to Natasha’s breath silently catching in her throat when he put his glasses on. 

Valkyrie’s heart rate was rising, as were her brain functions. She was waking up. Her eyes were twitching rapidly behind her eyelids and her fingers were curling and tightening into a fist before relaxing over and over, like she was trying to warm up cold hands. Loki moved to her side, stroking the wrist of her right hand. All her movement ceased, but a certain piece of her brain scan glowed ever brighter- the piece that controlled emotion and attraction flared, and suddenly her dark brown eyes flashed open. 

With an almost drunken yell, Valkyrie shot up from the table, and threw her unobstructed left hand in an uncontrolled swing. Wanda managed to stop the warrior woman’s fist with her scarlet powers before it reached anyone. Valkyrie’s chest heaved as she looked around the room to the people around her in an unfamiliar location. Her first words were understandable ones, even through her slight slur.

“Where am I?” Loki patted her arm and told the story of how she had come to the lab, leaving out Hope and Scott as well as Rhodey’s gunpoint incident. She sighed quietly when Loki spoke, welcoming the sense of familiarity. He smiled at the end of his explanation, to which she returned. Her chest suddenly began itching, and she pulled off the source of her irritation; the electrodes, as she did with the ones on her arms. She reached for the device atop her head, but Loki stopped her. He nodded to Bruce, who flicked a few buttons on the screen. Two lights that had been glowing blue suddenly turned off and a click came from the helmet. Loki turned back and nodded to her as she removed the net of wires. 

She flipped her legs over the side of the examination table, her boots dangling a fair amount off the ground, but she held her head when the room began spinning. Bruce spoke up when Loki went to help her down.

“It’ll probably take an hour- maybe two- for the tranquilizer to fully wear off. Take it easy,” Valkyrie nodded unsurely, before jumping from the table solo. As soon as she hit the ground, her legs gave out. Luckily, both Bruce and Loki caught her, and Loki heaved her arm onto his shoulder, ignoring his leg crying out once again. Valkyrie hazily looked to her lover's leg confusedly, before asking,

"Is you leg… Better?" She looked to his eyes, her eyes clouded and hazed with the tranquilizer’s sleepy effect, but still full and colourful, shining with vitality and life. Loki grimaced and shook his head. She nodded and tried to take her arm back to stand on her own, but again her legs couldn’t support her weight and she almost collapsed, being caught by Loki again.

“Don’t try to stand on your own yet, my love,” He whispered. “You have not the strength. She nodded quickly, doing her best to help take at least some of her weight off of Loki’s shoulders. Steve came in without Rhodey, drawing Valkyrie and Peter’s attention. He smiled to the conscious Queen, who nodded back shortly.

“What were the results, Bruce?” He asked. Bruce walked back over to the screen and hit one of the buttons below, and a moment of silence came. Then, slowly, a few small sheets began emerging from underneath. He took the sheets, ripping them from the stock of stationery. He adjusted his glasses and looked at it confusedly. Peter approached and also looked to the sheet, mimicking Bruce’s look of confusion. They looked to each other, then back to the sheet.

“Bruce?” Steve asked. Bruce looked up to him.

“Well, as we guessed, this… chemical was based off of one of ours, but there’s a few more pieces to it. These other elements- the ones I expect Vision couldn't… quantify, these are some of the most complex molecular structures I’ve  _ ever _ seen- these elements are… not Earthly-” Thor interrupted.

“Can I see?” Thor asked. Bruce handed him the sheet, and Thor peered at the sheet with quite the scientific gaze. “They’re Aesir.” He said simply, garnering odd looks from everyone. Loki and Valkyrie raised eyebrows, and Thor came over to them, showing them the sheet. Loki nodded, while Valkyrie laughed.

“I never was one for the science,” She sighed.

“Yes, those are Aesir. Actually, isn’t that what the guards use for riots?” Loki asked, looking to his brother. Thor nodded quickly. “They typically work for a few hours, why was Valkyrie out for only one?” He asked, looking to his brother.

“I think the Earthly elements counteracted the Aesir ones, making it less intense on Aesir bodies. That, and Valkyrie is… Well, a Valkyrie, some of the most powerful warriors in Aesir history.” Loki nodded while Valkyrie gave a proud, almost cocky smile. Now the only question remains… who on Earth had a vendetta against Valkyrie and enough knowledge of Aesir chemistry to build such a tranquilizer?” Thor asked, returning the sheet to Bruce and Peter, who stood stunned at Thor’s unexpected hidden knowledge.

“I don’t know, and I rather don’t much care. The only thing I care about is getting back to the New Compound and getting our Queen safe.” Loki said with a tone of inarguable finality. Steve nodded along before turning to Peter.

“Why are you here, Queens?” He asked. Peter looked to him oddly, before a splash of realization hit him. “Oh yeah! Missus Stark said she needed something from this lab.” With that, he quickly turned to Stark’s section of the lab and shot a web from his Iron Spider wrist ring, landing squarely on a thick drawer’s handle. He gently opened it, and the handle of a red-and-gold briefcase popped up. He webbed that as well and pulled it out, the force of the briefcase moving causing the drawer to roll closed. “Almost forgot about that.” He sighed sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

“Right. Hey, kid, you wanna check out the New Compound?” Steve offered. Peter’s eyes lit up and he nodded frantically. 

“Um, yeah!” He said, jokingly incredulous. “I gotta call May- hey, can I say it’s official Avenger stuff?” He asked quickly, his eyes twinkling as he looked to Steve.

“Of course. You’re one of us, kid. You are an Avenger.” He smiled, patting the kid on the shoulder. Peter grinned like a small child and leapt forward, hugging Steve around the waist tightly. Steve was taken aback for a minute, but patted the teen’s back unsurely. He looked to Natasha with a careful, somewhat confused smile. The Avengers began filing out- Peter occasionally jumping on and off the walls with excitement- leaving only Vision, Bruce and Natasha left.

"You go on ahead, Nat. I'll be over in a minute," Natasha nodded after a moment, hesitantly following the others. Vision and Bruce looked to each other carefully, Vision with a concerned look.

"When should we tell Valkyrie of her… condition?" He asked hesitantly. Bruce sighed in contemplation, looking back as Nat waited outside the door of the lab- he could tell. She was out of earshot, but he knew it was a good idea to be careful, especially something so sensitive around someone as skilled as Natasha.

“Maybe we shouldn’t. I mean, that isn’t really our business, Vision.” Bruce muttered, looking at a different sheet he had removed from the machine, this one an odd type of X-ray- actually, it looked more like a CT-Scan- of Valkyrie’s entire body. Her organs and muscles were fine, healthy, strong- even for one of her species- and in good shape. But, in her uterus, there was a small distension. Upon a closer look, it was made obvious that…

Valkyrie was pregnant. Only five or six weeks, but pregnant nonetheless. There wasn’t enough of the embryo to determine if it was human or Aesir, but bets fell on entirely Aesir.

**New Compound**

Wanda sat in one of the chairs around the glowing table in the center of the central room, a cool bowl of cereal in her small hand. Natasha came into the room form below, dressed in a simple black sleeveless turtleneck and baggy black sweatpants, surprisingly casual for her usual super-spy appearance. Her red hair was fluffy and bright, but yet the older woman seemed somewhat tired. She had been training for a while, and she had obviously just showered- whether that had been alone was a bit of a question, judging from the smile on her face.

Natasha looked oddly to the younger girl, who was absorbed in a Romanian-lettered book. The girl was dressed in a red sweater and a black, plain skirt, a fluffy brown blanket from her room dressed over her body from her shoulder. She watched as the brunette took another spoonful of cereal and flipped a page, her scarlet power moving over the book as the page fluttered. The book was old and worn, but clearly well-loved.

“You know it’s like, almost midnight, right? Everyone’s gone to bed.” Natasha asked, looking to a clock on the wall. Thor, Loki and Valkyrie had returned to New Asgard, Parker had gone home, Rhodey was- God, she didn’t care- and the rest had all gone to sleep by now. Wanda met eyes with the older woman, her left cheek puffed up from the cereal and her face neutral with wide eyes. She swallowed slowly and nodded wordlessly before asking,

“Then why are you awake?” Natasha scoffed at her words, “And besides, cereal isn’t only for breakfast you know. Have you ever tried night-cereal?” She asked tauntingly, her accent melding her words in quite a lovely manner. Natasha held her head and up and shook it, placing her hands on her hips. Wanda developed a coy smile and inserted a bookmark onto her page before folding the thick book shut. She left it on her seat with her blanket, carrying her half-empty bowl with her. She placed it gently on the counter nearby and entered a cupboard, dragging out a box of oats, corn flakes and granola, the same kind she was currently eating.

She closed the cupboard and opened the one next to it, pulling out a clean, shiny brown bowl, the rim of the bowl thicker around the top. She placed the two items on the granite counter before pulling out a silverware drawer and a large tablespoon. She then turned to the fridge and opened it before pulling out a quarter-empty four-litre jug of milk, closing the door with her powers. She twisted the cap off and poured Natasha about half the bowl before resealing the jug. She opened the box and poured some in, the bowl now up to the brim with cereal and milk. She unceremoniously dipped the spoon in and slowly slid it to Natasha, retaking her hold on her own bowl and eating another spoonful. She then returned the milk to the fridge and the box to its cupboard before looking to Natasha, who stared into her bowl absentmindedly.

Wanda stared for a moment at the redheaded Avenger before tapping her bowl with the spoon in her own hand, creating a dull  _ tink _ . The noise struck Nat out of her gaze and made her look to the brunette, who stared concernedly. Natasha looked back down to the bowl and swallowed. Her breath hitched and caught in her lungs when the contents shifted. They shifted into the vague shape of Laura's face, her eyes dark and angry. Natasha's spine froze solid and her stomach dropped at the sight, but when Wanda tapped her shoulder, the face disintegrated.

"You see her." The other woman said with a tone of finality. Without even thinking, Natasha nodded slowly, mildly surprised at Wanda’s knowledge. Wanda tapped the older woman's shoulder again, this time harder to attract the redhead's attention. Natasha looked up to Wanda with tears edging in her eyes, looking back down stubbornly. The cereal was shapeless, but the memory of the face was definitely going to be enough.

“I saw him a lot, too,” Wanda began, her voice hitching slightly. Natasha looked up to the other girl. Wanda nodded quietly before continuing, her chestnut hair waving with the motion. “Pietro- my brother. I couldn’t even eat without feeling horrible. And when I did, to stop… the pain, I would… give it back up.” Natasha looked down as she realized what she meant. She had actually done that in the past week, but only once thankfully- the midnight after she had learned of the news, the grief had gotten the better of her. Though, she was still scared to eat, just because the sensation had been so horrible that one night.

“But, one night, I realized that… That me doing that to myself isn't what he would've wanted. It's not what Laura would've wanted for  _ you _ either. You can’t blame yourself, Natasha,” The way her voice fell off the younger girl’s tongue brought a certain, unrealized beauty to it. “You have to keep living- for her sake- and you won’t live if you don’t eat.” Natasha looked up to Wanda in modest, certain surprise. She hadn’t thought she wasn’t  _ that _ malnourished, she couldn’t be.

Was she?

Wanda grinned slightly with a look of disdain. “We can all see it, Nat. You're cheeks are thinner. Your eyes are dark. I could probably see your ribs if you lifted your shirt. Wanda nudged the full bowl of cereal under the older woman’s crossed arms. “Eat, or you’ll get as pale as me.” She laughed. Natasha looked down to the bowl carefully. The face hadn’t reformed yet, and as Natasha picked up the spoon, she heard Wanda bring her book over from her chair and flip it open to the page she had left on. Natasha looked back down to the bowl, scooping up some of the granola carefully, some of the milk dripping from the spoon back into the bowl, splashing playfully.

Natasha looked up to Wanda, who was still engaged in her book. With a deep breath Natasha quickly shoveled the food into her mouth and swallowed, the rough corn flakes scraping her throat as they traveled down. She dropped the spoon into the bowl, unreactive when the milk splashed onto the table. Her body rejoiced at the sensation of food finally entering her body, but her body was unfortunately used to it, as she had overcome this sort of thing before- twice in recent memory, actually. This happened every time she fell into a severe grief. The first time in recent memory was when Bruce had disappeared in 2015, and that had lasted just over a week. The second recent time was back just after the Snap, in 2019. That episode had lasted for  _ three  _ weeks, but Bruce had helped her through it. 

This too she would best.

Natasha felt a massive pang of guilt as she looked back down to the bowl of grains. She swallowed the last of the taste before she put her head in her hands.

"It's a good first step. Remember, we're  _ all _ here for you, Nat." Wanda rested her petite hand on Natasha's and squeezed it. She withdrew her hand and took in another spoonful, almost begging the Avenger across from her to mirror it. Natasha picked the spoon up from the bowl and she tried to eat another. Her hand was shaking, almost unbearably, before a warm, large hand steadied it. Wanda's face silently reacted somewhere in the realm of 'oh shit' and she hurriedly left, her bowl still resting on the counter.

Natasha looked to the hand, the tan shade immediately identifying it as Bruce's hand. She turned to him, her green eyes filled with her tears. He was dressed in a crisp, faded purple shirt and brown jeans, his glasses fogged up ever so slightly from the heat dampness of his face- he had just showered, clearly, and the smell of his soap eased her mind. He wordlessly relieved his glasses and helped her hand to her mouth and coaxed the spoon in. She closed her mouth, but didn't allow the cereal down. She shook her head fervently in desperation. She didn't want anymore guilt to flood her body. Bruce put his palm on her lips but left her nose unblocked, simply not allowing her mouth to open. Her eyes begged him not to, but his hand was firm and unmoving. Natasha glued her eyes shut, preparing for another wave of guilt.

She felt like a small child being fed by their parents, like she was incapable of feeding herself. Never mind the fact that she was somewhat incapable. But, when it was Bruce, there was also an odd combination of safety, passion, embarrassment and love. She felt safe with him, safe in his embrace, safe with his  _ mind _ . Everyone else- she knew they wouldn't, but irrational fears threw all logic out the window- would judge her, look at her weirdly, or see her as less strong. 

But Bruce? He understood. He understood that even the invincible, unbreakable, undefeatable Black Widow indeed had moments of vulnerability, breakability… Defeat. During her episode from the Sokovia Accords, Bruce wasn't there, and the episode was far harder due to that. But during the Snap's aftermath, he was. He had instinctively done this for her, like a bird caring after its young, like…

Natasha finally caved in and swallowed the spoonful in her mouth, tensing her body in expectation for the wave of remorse. The now-soggy flakes were luckily easy on her esophagus. Bruce moved his hand away from her pink lips, readying another spoonful for her. The wave of guilt she expected never came, though. Her lip quivered as her mouth turned up into a shaky smile, and Bruce carefully breathed out a smile. He took hold of the spoon again and brought another bite to her mouth, this one with a particularly large chunk of granola that she would  _ have _ to chew. 

She swallowed her fear as her lover took a gentle hold on her jaw. She opened her mouth and allowed the spoonful in, toying with the heavy chunk for a minute. She felt Bruce's hand return to her lips, keeping them closed. She adjusted her hold on the chunk so it was between her jaws, before steeling her nervous mind and clamping down, reducing it to rubble. 

She swallowed the spoonful easily, and Bruce once again took back his hand from her mouth to prepare another bite for her. She smiled as he dipped the spoon in and out of the cereal, and her emotions came up far too fast for her liking. Tears rolled out of her eyes and she sobbed once quietly. It was enough to draw his attention, and he brought another spoonful. This time, he took Natasha's hand and allowed it to grip the silverware, her grip much like that of a pencil. She slowly brought the spoon to her mouth and enveloped the bite in her mouth, and Bruce kept his hand to his side. She was tempted to spit out the mouthful just to see her consequences, but when a look of calm happiness crossed his face she quickly swallowed.

"If Sam were here, there would make  _ so _ many innuendos." Natasha laughed quietly, resting her spoon back in the bowl. Bruce laughed through a smile, looking back up to his lover's eyes. His smile faded, replaced slowly with a look of warm adoration. He slowly moved towards her, and she mimicked. They both had no idea how close they were until they felt each other's warm breath on their faces. Natasha's breath hitched when Bruce closer the distance, pressing his lips to hers. There was the slightest spark in her heart when his tongue poked her lip, but she gladly opened and closed her eyes, allowing herself to get lost in their moment. Her arms crawled around his back as scratched at his shoulder blades so hard that- even through his shirt, red marks were left behind on his skin. 

Bruce slowly moved from inside her mouth to the corners, and began traveling down. He sucked on her jaw as she bit a moan in response. The brim of her turtleneck restricted his path, and he dared not move it- not in the kitchen, not when anyone could walk in on them. Instead, he moved back up to Natasha's lips and opened them, sticking his tongue in and wrestling Natasha's for control, the slick surfaces giving way quite easily. Even still, Natasha- with the most keen sense of body control he had ever seen any a woman- eventually won the dual and suppressed Bruce's tongue into submission. He sighed with contentedness as Natasha moved her thin, skilled tongue around his mouth, crossing over every edge, bend and point with a lavish romance.

Natasha pulled away, her breath deeper ever so thanks to her amazing body control, posing as a stark opposite to Bruce's heavy breaths. She smiled to him, resting her arms on his shoulders as he rested his hands on her hips, like they were dancing to music only audible to them alone. The beat to which was their hearts, fast and wild, perfectly synchronized as they stared into each other lovingly. Natasha swallowed her words when Bruce sucked in close to her ear, his intense breathing raising the ginger hairs on the back of her neck. As an electric spike shot through her nervous system- making her toy with her lip as Bruce tongued her earlobe and her jaw- she lost control of her body for a moment, and her subconscious took over and sent her head back, casting her red hair over her shoulder, even at its short length.

Bruce rested Natasha's returned forehead against his own, sighing contentedly, "God, I love you, Nat." The words sent the strongest shock down her back. Even in her current state- bony, malnourished, depressed and emotional, he loved her. Even when she had caused him to leave he still loved her.

And even when his other half had left, she still loved him as well. Even in the biggest disaster of her life- between his leaving, their family being ripped apart and her being hunted to the ends of Earth- she still had his life and- even if it was buried deep within her most secure center- he had hers as well. She had wrestled with the mental fight of ' _ do I only love him to stop Hulk? _ ' and every time, the answer remained a solid 'no'. She loved Bruce for his heart; wide and open to anyone that knew how to serve themselves into it- and luckily she was  _ very _ flexible, for his mind; wise and kind, able to heal next to any wound- physical and emotional, and his empathy. 

He cared  _ so much _ about  _ everyone _ that it was almost a weakness, but when he showed his love for her- even in the smallest way; a cursory cup of coffee, a gentle hug, a few minutes alone, a hard, rough night after an even harder day- it all supercharged her heart in a way she didn't think possible- to a level so high she thought a beam would burst forward from her chest, a la Iron Man. 

Natasha raised her head in a gentle parallel to Bruce's, both their eyes twinkling in romance. Natasha opened her mouth to respond, but no sooner had she made a sound before the wall exploded to her left, across from the kitchen.

**To Be Continued...**


	6. Avengers: Reforged V: Wreckage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers Warehouse is attacked. When Peggy suffers a grievous injury in the victory, Steve does his best to help her. Bruce has a nightmarish premonition and Vision has a question for Wanda. Pepper's worries are finally put to rest when her husband wakes. But, will Tony be able to keep himself together, or will he be broken?  
Only Time will tell...

**Avengers: Reforged V: Wreckage **

**Earth- 199 621, 2023**

**The New Compound **

Natasha felt her ears ringing, ringing,  _ ringing  _ so ferociously her entire head was shaking. Her ears were practically bleeding, the ringing was so bad. She heard the dull banging on gunshots, but her ears were too occupied to react. She felt a stinging pang ring through her leg, but it was tolerable enough thanks to her adrenaline. She vaguely felt a pair of strong arms bring her behind a side-flipped table as more dull shots rang out. She managed to shake off most of the dizziness, but her eyes remained clouded by a haze. A glint of silver on a blotch of black told her it was Steve. He engaged his other shield and vaulted over the table valiantly.

Beside her lay Bruce, hands over his ears and dizziness racking through him. She suddenly felt her blood run cold when she thought he would turn to the Hulk, but his skin wasn’t at all changing, remaining the tanned shade as before instead of swapping to olive.

Natasha felt her side instinctively for her gun, but her fingers only found the puffy waistband of her sweatpants. She shook her head, her magmatic hair fluttering along with it. She cursed herself for being unprepared while the cold voice laughed. She peeked her head over the lip of the table only to duck back down to narrowly dodge a bullet biting a chunk out of the lip of the thick, sturdy wood.

She moved her head to the staircase that led below when a flash of glowing red illuminated her blurry- but clearing- vision. Wanda had her hands outstretched, dancing with red flames, casting her magical essence to their attackers. Vision ducked in front of her as bullets rained down, cutting off Wanda's links. Bucky came valiantly from behind the two, his machine gun at the ready. Despite that, he had to guard himself with his invincible false arm. Seven bullets ricocheted off the black surface before Rogers reached the one firing at Barnes and swept his legs out from under him before he punched him in the throat. Rogers kicked the mask off, revealing an aged, battle-hardened face. The attacker had his hand around his own throat, trying to regain oxygen. Steve kicked him in the nose, breaking it and knocking him out. 

Countless shots bounced off the shields Steve raised defensively before the  _ bang _ of a revolver blasted from beside Vision. Peggy stood alongside the witch and the android, dressed in a tight navy blue t-shirt and black leggings as she fired another shot. It hit one of the other four remaining in the thigh and brought him down. She reloaded her revolver with special hollow-points, intent on causing as much damage as possible.

Bruce finally shook off the dizziness and moved next to Natasha as a bullet bit out a solid chunk of the table beside him. She looked to him as he looked to her, laughing as she said,

“The moment was kinda ruined,” Bruce peeked over the table and narrowly dodged a bullet. “You wouldn’t happen to have something big, would you?” She asked loudly.

“He’s gone!” 

“What do you mean ‘he’s gone’?”

“I mean he’s gone! I don’t know either!” Meanwhile, Bucky had the opportunity to open fire, but hesitated as Steve fought downrange. Peggy fired another shot but missed her opponent narrowly, narrowly missing Steve’s hip along the way. Bucky cursed under his breath and took aim at the furthest attacker, only for them to be hollowed out from the chest by a bright yellow beam, buzzing with power. Vision suddenly flew into the fight and threw another of the attackers out of the hole in the wall, firing another beam. Wanda sent a needle of red straight through the heart of one taking aim at Bucky, sending the attacker hurtling back with an erupting gun. Bucky turned to the Sokovian girl and nodded in thanks, which she responded with in turn, a small smile on her face.

The last one of the attackers began backing to the door, his gun pointed and shooting at a shielded Steve Rogers, who was quickly approaching. As if a reflex, Steve brought the shield from his left arm and threw it at the attacker, hitting him just below the chest and stunning him for just a moment. 

A moment is the only time needed.

Steve rushed the attacker and jumped before kicking him with both his legs, sending him against the wall. Steve turned in the air and landed on his hands and knees before using his weight and momentum to turn and tackle the attacker, discarding his gun and holding the remaining shield against the final man’s throat. He struggled for a moment before he realized it was hopeless.

Bucky approached, his machine gun on top of his shoulder and pointed to the ceiling. Wanda and Vision came behind, Vision’s stone glowing ominously and Wanda with a sparking ball of red between her hands. Bruce and Natasha emerged from behind the hole-riddled table, threateningly serious as they approached as well.

The man spoke, more of a hoarse whisper, “Damn circus animals.” He had a slight accent, but the slight was incredibly recognizable: This man was  _ Sokovian _ . Wanda was taken aback by the accent ever so much.

“You’re Sokovian?” Bucky asked slowly. The man scoffed as the shield against his throat restricted further. He managed a passionate nod, but not much more.

“Of course I’m Sokovian. Not many enemies of yours aren’t these days. That  _ event _ caused a lot of issues, you know,” He looked to Wanda judgingly. “And it’s all because of  _ you _ -” Steve cut off his speech with the tightening of his arm and whispered into the groaning man’s ear,

“That’s enough. Why are you here?” The man laughed shortly, enjoying the question. Wanda extended her powers and twisted the man’s arm, cutting his laugh short.

“Gah, you’re so naive, Rogers. Cut off one head…” Steve visibly recoiled from the speech and released the man, throwing him to the ground. 

“Two more take its place.” Steve rolled the man over and faced him as he finally laughed.

“Hail. Hydra.” With that, the man worked something out of his gums and bit into it, a slight  _ pop _ coming. A second later- Steve did his best to stop the man, but he kept his mouth firmly closed- his mouth foamed up and the smell of very bitter almonds came from it. The attacker sputtered for a moment before finally succumbing to the mysterious liquid foaming from his mouth.

Cyanide molar, the emergency escape method of Hydra spies and agents in the ‘Nazi’ run of their career back in the forties.

Bucky nudged his friend’s shoulder, looking to him disparagingly. Steve nodded wordlessly, worry painting his face. They all knew what this meant.

The attacker Peggy had shot groaned weakly, lying in a pool of his own warm blood, sticking and squelching as he moved. He shakily raised his gun and fired one round before he collapsed and blacked out from blood loss. In a second, Vision tucked Wanda behind him, Bucky shielded his head with his left arm, Bruce and Natasha hit the floor, and Steve leapt in front of Peggy, his shield at the ready. The single bullet missed them all and hit the wall behind the group pathetically, not even a sound coming. 

At least, that what they thought until Peggy coughed lightly. Steve's head snapped to hers and she smiled shakily. She looked down to her abdomen, where a small patch of shiny blood was growing. She looked to the wall, seeing no hole remaining. The bullet was still inside of her. She sputtered a slight laugh before she collapsed against Steve. They both slid to the ground and Rogers laid Peggy on the floor, pressing against her wound. She recoiled in pain and squeezed her eyes closed.

Vision' eyes quickly flashed yellow as he contacted an ambulance, blood pooling up around Steve’s fingers with a  _ squelch _ . Peggy grit her teeth and groaned as her head shot up from the pain, but Steve held her in place.

"I thought-" She tried, but her wound simply wouldn't allow it. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she whimpered. Steve held the back of her head.

“Hey, Peggy. Don’t quit on me. We-” A sudden pain went through his body, causing him to look down. In a similar spot on his own abdomen, there was a red patch of blood. The bullet had gone  _ through _ him and into Peggy. 

At least he had managed to block her. 

He ignored it and put more pressure onto her stomach as she sobbed, her eyes rolling into the back of her head in pain. The others were standing nearby, tense as they waited for the whine of the ambulance. Peggy’s gasping sobs were unnatural and surreal, as was the fact that one of their own was currently bleeding out on the floor.

Vision suddenly spoke, “Ambulance will arrive in approximately five minutes, Captain.” Steve nodded frantically, rubbing Peggy’s shoulder when she opened her eyes. She stared up at the ceiling as her wound burned, searing as she felt her vision slowly go dark. 

No. 

She fought, opening her eyes and flexing her fingers, anything that would help her concentrate on her body. Her eyes were blurry from pain and blood loss, and everything she did hurt. Breathing, crying, moving- everything. She tried to keep her breaths short and subtle, but her practice only lasted maybe thirty seconds before she had to go back to normal. It was getting harder to focus on anything.

Steve kept his hand on her wound, pressing down almost suffocatingly hard. He felt his own wound burn but his accelerated healing was dampening it to tolerable levels, nothing he hadn’t felt many times before. Bucky had his hand on Rogers’ shoulder, doing his best to comfort his friend as he held his dying lover.

“Steve.” She whispered.

“No. No talking. Just- just look at me okay?” Peggy indeed looked to him, her vision somehow staring at him yet not, like she was looking deeper into the universe than was possible when stable.

“It’s happening, Steve. I’m… No, I-”

“Peggy, stop. Stop talking, focus on me. Focus on- on living. Breathe, okay? Can you do that? Just… Just breathe for me…” He was getting desperate now as Peggy sighed shortly, gritting her teeth in pain. She nodded once, concentrating on her breathing. Steve teared up when he heard the ambulance siren in the distance.

“Ambulance arriving now, Captain,” Vision sighed, holding Wanda as she kept her head in his chest, too scared to look at Peggy and shaking as the older woman sobbed in fragments. There was a small pool gathering beneath her as Rogers tried to quell her bleeding. The sirens were now practically outside the base and brakes squealed. Vision fired two beams at the main door, melting it off its hinges. The metal slab fell forward with a bang as two nurses came with an emergency stretcher.

“Medics, make way!” One of them shouted with an odd European accent. Everyone spread clear from Peggy except for Steve, who stayed with her as the emergency workers hoisted her small frame onto the stretcher and lifted her, bringing her hurriedly to the bulky ambulance with Steve close behind.

Bruce watched as Peggy was shut into the vehicle before it drove off, a sick feeling bubbling in his stomach when he pictured Natasha in the same way- bleeding out in his arms. It scared him- no, that wasn’t even accurate, he was  _ frozen _ . He was fucking  _ paralyzed _ at the concept of the powerful Black Widow, his lover- Hell, his  _ best friend _ \- bleeding out hopelessly in his arms while he was powerless to do something on his own. Except in his mind, there was no ambulance, no stretcher, no teammates, only him and Natasha as she begged him to stay with her as her sight faded to black before going limp in his arms. He shook her, but there was no response, no movement, only a single, small exhale came from Natasha as her moss eyes flashed open and stayed open. He subconsciously pulled her closer in his arms, feeling the warmth of her body pour against his own. He heard, strained, as she whispered,

“Bruce…” He closed his eyes tightly and rocked with her body in his arms, hearing her whisper, “Bruce…” again.

“Bruce?” He snapped out of his vision when Natasha nudged his arms. He looked into her eyes and she looked into his before she rested her head against his shoulder, her magmatic hair flowing over his shoulder. She sighed, looking to Steve as he reentered the base, his hands dripped with crimson blood. He looked back to the four attackers, all dead in the large room. His mouth turned down into an evil snarl before he threw his last shield at the attacked that had shot Peggy. 

As usual, Steve’s shield was perfectly on target as it wedged itself into the man's neck, decapitating him. Wanda screamed in surprise at the sudden sound and everyone else took a step back. Rogers looked to his hands, before turning to the kitchen, turning on the faucet to scrape the blood off of his hands.

Natasha looked to Bruce, worried for Steve. She had never seen his like this and a random  _ decapitation _ was definitely not in his character. Wanda kept her head in Vision’s chest, scared to look to the bodies around her. Bucky looked to his friend with a look of pained understanding before looking to the wall- or rather, what was left of it. 

A hole about five meters wide rested, floor to ceiling, revealing the innards of the wall. A layer of concrete, a layer of old insulation from what could only be the nineties and then the innermost wall of concrete. As Bucky studied the hole, there was a metal clang outside of the warehouse, one that was all too familiar. It was lighter than usual, meaning Tony was still not awake. 

Pepper, still dressed in her purple Rescue armour, looked in horror at the base as she walked through the door frame. There was a hole in the wall, five bodies strewn about as well as blood and bullet holes  _ everywhere _ . Wanda, the Vision, Bruce, Natasha, Captain Rogers and Sergeant Barnes stood, not a scratch on any of them. F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s initial environmental analysis of the air showed a warning of cyanide somewhere nearby, and when her mask rose it hit her like a truck. She asked the only question that could form within her mind,

“What the  _ fuck _ happened?” She shouted, her voice showing her strained sanity. Just ten minutes ago, she was with Happy and Morgan in the hospital, talking in a one-sided conversation with her comatose husband when F.R.I.D.A.Y. had alerted her to an explosion in the Avengers warehouse. Reluctantly, she had gotten in her suit and flown to the warehouse to… _ this _ . This mess.

Natasha looked to Pepper with a disgraced look and shouted at an equal volume, “We were attacked!” She wrapped her arms around herself, the prospect of an attack on their base leaving her feeling uncomfortably exposed and vulnerable- especially with the recent events in her life. Bruce wrapped his arms around her, bringing her closer in an attempt to calm her. She gave Pepper another indignant glare before surrendering herself to her lover, feeling the desire to just curl up like a kitten and fall asleep. She closed her eyes as Bruce pet her hair gently.

Pepper rolled her eyes at Natasha’s outburst before quickly realizing her headcount of six was off. Sam and Rhodey had gone home obviously, as had Thor, Loki and Valkyrie to New Asgard, Peter was at May’s after giving Pepper what she had requested from the labs and saying a bittersweet hello to Tony, Scott and Hope were resting at the new location of ‘X-Con Security’ Luis, Kurt and Dave had managed to open up in New York before their flight back to San Francisco, but she had no clue where Peggy- the new brunette Rogers had stolen through time- was, though her stomach dropped fast when she realized why they needed an ambulance, as it was surely not for the five dead laying around the large room.

“Oh God, she was hurt? How bad?” Pepper asked, her voice filled with as much compassion as she could spare for someone other than her husband. Natasha gave an evil glare from Bruce’s arms but she nodded slowly, her green eyes swelling with tears again. Steve forcefully shut off the water, his hands clean again. He collected the shields that were on the floor and re-equipped them, groaning in disgust at the blood on his left. Some of it spattered off when the shields shrunk into bracelets.

“She’s bleeding out, probably going to need a blood transfusion. We’re matching blood types, so I’m going to give some of mine.” He said with a near hurtful tone of finality. He walked across the fallen door and outside, callously mounting his motorcycle parked just beside the warehouse and before he peeled off towards the nearest hospital. 

“What am I doing with these?” Pepper whispered to herself, looking around at the bodies surrounding her.

**Peggy’s Hospital, Four Hours Later**

Steve sat in a waiting room reading a magazine, even though his mind didn’t allow any of the information to enter. He was concentrated on the clock, waiting for Peggy’s operation to end. She had been in the ER for damn well over four hours now and he was getting impatient. He understood that this was no small operation and the doctors needed- and were going to take- as much time as possible to preserve her safety, but he was impatient regardless.

He perked up when a doctor exited into the waiting room, his scrubs covered in blood. His face was blank and unreactive as he quickly reached his hand to Steve’s forehead, moving so quickly even he couldn’t react. That was when Steve suddenly felt his body removed from him. Or, the other way around, perhaps, but the feeling was almost too odd to explain. Steve saw the entire room become dark and a mysterious, translucent figure that exuded some sort of blue light appeared before him.

The figure’s face was thin and aged, an oddly familiar curl of silvery hair coming down onto a thin, high-cheekboned face as a red cloak flowed behind him, decorated with gold trims around the bottom. The sharp collar was popped up dramatically. The man also wore a grey beard and mustache, both rather thin. His eyes were void and empty, yet filled with mysterious and mystic wisdom. His body was covered in odd blue flowing robes and yellow gloves with dark red boots coming up to his knees. Around his neck was a small, golden necklace with an eye-shaped pendant attached.

“Strange?” He asked, looking closer to the doctor’s features. A sly grin crossed his face as he nodded, looking to his hands. They were entirely still as he sighed. A dull, quiet  _ boom _ rippled through the air before a subtle, uncontrollable shaking reentered his hands. “How… I thought you were guarding the Sanctum.” Strange nodded before replying, floating to a window in his odd ghost-like state. The doctor willed Rogers to follow him, his body remaining where it was as his spirit followed.

“Wong and a few other sorcerers from London and indeed New York have agreed to guard Sanctum in my absence, but I decided to help your friend, Miss Carter. I still have all of my medical knowledge, even if I lack the… Ability to operate as myself,” He sighed, looking down to his hands through his yellow gloves. 

“You’re not you, are you?” Steve asked.

“No, I’m me,” Strange reassured.

No, out there. That’s not you?” He asked, thumbing back to the doctor outside of this odd realm. Strange nodded as he understood.

“No, that’s a friend of mine. Cashed in a favour. So, I used my powers to help save your friend, but she needs blood, and her blood type is-”

“A. She’s type A. I came to donate, I have A blood.” Strange looked to him oddly, as if to ask him how he knew Peggy’s blood type so specifically. “Back in the war, there were exercises to make sure we could save each other on the field, so we all shared our blood types. She and I were the only A-bloods.” Strange nodded curtly. “Though, back then I hardly had any blood to give.”

“Into the office, we go, then.” Quite quickly, Strange moved himself and Rogers back to their bodies- well, the doctor moved back to his loaned body- before replacing his hand to Seve’s forehead. He was sucked back into his body and almost fell back, but Strange steadied him with an arm. A red coat on a nearby hook shifted at Strange’s quick movement, though it was steadied with a look from the doctor. “Let’s get you ready.” As they both moved into the ER, several other doctors and nurses moved away from the operation table. Steve’s breath caught when he saw Peggy laying on it.

There were several tubes leading both in and out of her, and a heavy mask was over her small face. A blue sheet was thrown over her body from the shoulders down, though a large rectangle was cut in the sheet showing a portion of her toned belly, where a huge, nasty, red, freshly-sown scar rested, just left of her belly button. An IV hung from a rack nearby and a huge machine stood nearby with a sturdy chair beside it. Strange motioned to the chair and said,

“Captain.”

**An Hour Later**

Steve sat at the edge of Peggy’s bed, waiting for any sign that the transfusion had worked. Strange, still within the other doctor’s body, reentered the room to check on Peggy’s vitals, having deemed her stable enough to move to a hospital bed, though she was still wired up to every medical machine in mortal knowledge, a heart monitor beeping quietly.

“Pulse has strengthened, she’s definitely balancing out again. Though, this is odd- her white blood cell count is  _ skyrocketing _ ,” he whispered, looking at a blood test for her. “I’ve never seen anything like this, it’s like her body’s having a reaction to something that’s making it heal faster.”

Steve smiled as he realized what it was. “It’s the serum in my blood- the super-soldier serum. It’s affecting her too.” Strange nodded, looking over and arm that rested outside the thin blanket that rested over her. She felt abnormally warm, but not dangerously so. “She’s warming up again, the blood is not affecting negatively-“

Strange’s word stopped when Peggy’s arm twitched. The twitch rippled through and her fingers curled in response. Her skin began to flush, and her heart rate was also climbing, as the steady beeping was now becoming an erratic screaming from the machine. The slight twitching in her fingers quickly evolved and spiralled out of control as she began seizing suddenly, the tubes and wires attached to her jiggling and bouncing as her body spasmed. 

“She’s seizing, hold her down,” Strange said quickly. Steve stood and held her right shoulder and her leg while Strange held her other side. A thin layer of sweat was beginning to cover her body, sheening in the sterile white light of the hospital room. In her rest, Peggy groaned in pain, almost like she was waking.

“Lift her shirt, I need to see her scar!” Strange shouted. Steve grabbed the hem of her hospital shirt and lifted it to reveal the scar, which was slowly but noticeably sealing itself. The serum was taking hold, and Steve remembered the pain he had felt inside Stark’s chamber when Doctor Erskine had initiated the serum process over eighty years ago.

Peggy’s arms twitched again through her seizing before shadowy lines slowly began appearing along her biceps. Her stomach, which was still available to open air, began defining further past her slight muscles. Her flesh pressed tighter as her abdominal muscles slowly grew, tightening and strengthening in response to the serum. Her seizure suddenly stopped, and her face that was just covered with a decoration of pain became soothed once more.

“Peggy?” Steve asked after a moment. Her heart rate began slowing again, and Strange moved over to her vital display, almost enamoured with the results.

“Her pulse is way stronger. Her heart rate is good- What just happened?” He asked, looking to Peggy. She was noticeably stronger, her skin was its normal shade of slightly flushed pink. Her hair was longer as well as a more rich shade than previously, and her cheeks were blushing. A deep breath entered her before her hazel eyes suddenly snapped open and she shot up.

Both Strange and Steve were at her side when she held her stomach in pain. Her breathing was heavy and her eyes were seemingly unable to focus. She looked in confusion at her arms when she felt her wound calm down again before choking out a question.

“How long ago was the shooting?” She asked uncertainly, looking to Steve. He looked to Strange who nodded,

“Maybe five, six hours ago?” 

“No, that’s not… What happened to me?” She asked, lifting her shirt to see her scar, surprised by her newly formed abs as well as the pinkish scar, the seams of her stitches tight against her new body. “That is  _ not _ six hours old, not even close.” Her voice was slowly becoming surer as she quickly woke from her anesthesia-induced sleep.

“Rogers gave you some of his blood, which carried some of Erskine’s formula, but… Didn’t you're transformation need gamma rays?” Strange asked, looking to the Captain.

“Yeah. I don’t know how she got… This.” Steve responded, motioning to Peggy’s stomach. “And I don’t think the blood she took unlocked the actual formula.” Peggy waved them both away, flipping her legs over the edge of her bed. She dropped to the floor, steady and sure-footed, despite her injury. Her shirt dropped back down and her blue-green hospital gown fluttered with her movements. 

A mirror rested on the wall opposite, and Peggy stared as she absorbed her new appearance. She was significantly taller- now just three inches shorter than Steve- her shoulders were wider and thicker, her arms were strong and sturdy. Her breasts had definitely grown, as told by the unusually heavy- well, heavier- feeling of weight on her chest. Her midsection had grown stronger and thicker as well, her hips were wider and her legs, though covered by her gown, were stronger and more defined. Her visible skin was shiny and smooth, having taken on a gentler shade of blush over it, her chest moving up and down with her breathing. Her hair, even though a more heavy shade of her usual chestnut, was longer and thicker, just past her shoulder blades now.

“I think we’re gonna have to get you some new clothes,” Steve commented. Peggy, still amazed by her transformation, simply nodded shakily.

**Avengers Warehouse**

Wanda and Vision stood before the large hole in the wall, a large, blue tarp covering from the outside air. The smell of a harsh, powerful deep-cleaner permeated the air like the scent of decay and a few dark-orange, faded blemishes spattered the false wood patternings of the floor. Dawn was breaking, and the lovers stared as the blue tarp began glowing orange, lit by the blazing ball of yellow in the far distance. Wanda sighed when her eyes fell to a very specific bloodstain on the floor, one that had contained her attention almost as much as the sunrise.

Vision had noticed his lover’s attention turn back once again to the spatter beside her, and he knew the reason that specific stain took her eyes more than the others.

That one had been her kill, with the little red needle of her powers.

Vision looked to Wanda as she quickly turned back to the sunrise through the tarp. “Wanda, I feel there is something you are neglecting to mention,” Wanda flicked her pink tongue out of her mouth as her breath hitched in surprise. He turned to her and continued. “And I feel that it is impacting your mind, as well as your enjoyment of the sunrise.” Wanda nodded and crossed her arms and squeezed herself, almost like she was cold. Vision wrapped his arms around her, holding her soft body close to his sturdy one.

“Vizh, I killed him. I didn’t hesitate, I didn’t think about his family, or his life or-” Vision suddenly dove against her lips and kissed her, earning himself a brief high-pitched squeak of surprise from Wanda. Before she had the chance to consider the kiss and kiss back, Vision separated and put his forehead against hers.

“Wanda; we know that even if he had survived the others, he would have committed suicide-”

“Vizh... I  _ don’t _ kill, I can’t kill- I did enough of that with Sokovia-”

“Sokovia was  _ not _ your fault, Wanda. Even if you cannot console yourself with killing, he was aiming to Sergeant Barnes, so find solace in the fact that you saved  _ his  _ life. Surely that has to be worth something, Wanda,”

“Yes, it’s worth something, but not a life! You said yourself that ‘we don’t trade lives’, so why is an opponent any different?” The way her accent rolled off of her words made Vision sigh in contentedness, in simple adoration of her voice. It housed such an innate purity and blessedness that it was hard to believe she had seen as much as she had in her short life- though, he was certainly not one to speak on the terms of short lives.

“While I may have said that in the past, I was evidently wrong: Sometimes, the sacrifice of a life is worth another’s, or… Many others', I suppose. Wanda, I know that, were you to be taken from me, I would trade any life necessary to get you back.” Wanda looked up to Vision with surprise in her eyes. “I’ve lived without you before, Wanda, and I know that it was a mistake- it could barely fall under ’living’.” Wanda gave him a look of mild questioning through her surprise, prompting him to elaborate.

“When Dr. Cho… used my remains Mr. Stark had delivered to her to try and revive me- which she managed to accomplish over only a few months thanks to her incredibly advanced bio-robotics work in the Cradle- she insisted that I remain within her lab until she deemed her replicated Mind Stone ready for battle. When she realized the effects of The Blip, she had sent me immediately from Korea to the Compound, which is why I arrived after all was said and done. Wanda- I begged her to tell me if you were alive, but she was insistent that she didn’t know. I worried for you for  _ five years _ \- worried you were gone, worried that- that you were…” His voice was speeding up as he looked to the floor himself. He looked back to her quickly after a moment, tears of love dotting her eyes.

“Wanda, I could barely function without you; Without your stares, your kisses, your… Intimacies,” He whispered, his eyes falling to the slight gap between her breasts her red sweater generated. He shook his head to clear his thoughts before continuing.“It- it’s irrational, yes, but I love you too much to let you go, to let some other…  _ lesser _ life take you from this world.” While she spoke, he swept her into his arms and looked into her olive eyes. She gasped at his actions, not breaking eye contact with him as he continued.

“I will kill for you, Wanda. No life is more valuable to me… Than yours.” He stared- almost angrily- into her eyes as he brought her left hand up and kissed it gently, yet incredibly passionately. Even though she should've been appalled, maybe even outraged at his quite serious and almost frightening admittance, she couldn’t help but be touched. The way his voice was: deep, sultry and low as he put forth such a grim sentence- as well as his accent,  _ Lord help her _ \- it all committed the words to such an intense truth that she couldn’t help but realize he was being entirely honest and promising in his ultimate vow.

“If it came to it, Wanda, I would give my own life. You are so much more than you allow yourself to think due to your actions, and if my life is what it takes for you to realize that…” Wanda shook her head in denial that she was more valuable than her synthetic lover. “It would have been a very worthy sacrifice.” He leaned her back further, keeping himself perfectly above her. His mechanical muscles kept her steady at an inhuman level, his strong arms around her back and at her waist.

“Vizh…” She was crying, her eyes wet and now overflowing with tears as they rolled down her face. She put her hand to Vision’s cheek, allowing him to kiss her wrist. “I would die for you too. I love you too much to let you go again.” Vision closed his eyes in contentedness.

“Wanda…” His breathing hitched for a moment before he continued with, “May I ask you a question?” His lover nodded fervently. He smiled at her eagerness, but suddenly there was a disturbance. A distant motorcycle approaching broke their moment, and Vision stood the both of them up as he realized that the Captain was arriving, apparently already returning from his hospital trip. Wanda looked to Vision questioningly before wiping her tears away and clearing her throat.

“Vizh?” She asked, her voice cracking with her tears. He shook his head subtly, putting the question off until they found themselves alone again. She nodded, doing her best to mask slight disappointment at the stunted curiosity. The sound of a motorcycle became louder, eventually leading to just outside the blue tarp, casting shadows through the yellowing glare of the sunrise. The engine died, silence overtaking it until two sets of heavy footfalls reached inside the warehouse. They circled around the warehouse until they reached the new door at the front of the base, creaking open on its new hinges. Steve spearheaded the two of them, his brown leather jacket benign on his… Bare chest? He led Peggy into the warehouse, and the lover couple then realized why Steve was lacking his shirt.

Peggy was wearing his white shirt, the once-loose-fitting article now fairly fitting around her figure, and her leggings that were once perfectly her size were now tight and constricting, the material translucent- bordering on transparent- as she entered. Her shoes were bursting at the seams as Peggy held herself as if self-conscious of her new, muscular appearance. Steve had her carefully by the shoulders as he led her quickly downstairs, Vision looking to the tarp again, avoiding Peggy’s new appearance. Wanda followed Vision’s gaze, smiling in the corner of her mouth at his chivalry.

When the two others had left downstairs, Wanda and Vision shared a look of wide-eyed, smiling ‘what the hell’. 

**Steve’s Room**

Steve stood against the doorframe to his room, allowing Peggy the privacy to change into some better-fitting clothing. Though, he couldn’t deny the very intense erection he had felt press against his jeans when he saw Peggy’s refined body press against her old leggings in the hospital. It was like something out of a perverted fantasy he found himself entertaining. The worst part was the longer he thought of the fantasies and the more he tried to shake them off, the dirtier and cruder they became- though, deep down, he had no objections, really- despite how much he was trying to convince himself he did. He shook his head and ran his hand through his beard, contemplating telling Peggy. Maybe she’d be angry, maybe she’d be flattered. He’d given up, long ago- probably when Howard told him not to in the War- at trying to guess what any woman was thinking. Natasha- God, if he’d tried to guess what  _ she _ was ever thinking, he’d lose his head- Wanda and even Peggy herself to a certain extent. It was all pointless to even try, and he had simply let it pass.

Peggy knocked on the door twice, signifying it was okay for him to enter. He sighed in an attempt to ward off his haughty thoughts before he twisted the knob and entered his room, closing it behind him. Peggy sat before him, her left leg tucked under her right one at the ankle as her hands rested on the bed behind her, unknowingly pushing her already- even more so now- prominent breasts out, bringing forth Steve’s impure thoughts back to the forefront as if he hadn’t even pushed them to the back just now. 

Her breasts had only inflated marginally, but that small amount was added onto an already above-average pair, therefore creating only more alluring shadows and lines along her figure. She smiled warmly at him, sitting up straight and putting her arms in her lap. She wore one of his shirts- another white one, actually- and an older pair of jeans, though even those were tight on her wide hips and strong thighs. Though, they teased his mind far less than her poor-fitting leggings, thank God.

“Better?” He asked quickly, leaning against the metal door and crossing his arms in hopes of hiding his growing erection. She nodded slowly, looking away from his face and biting her peach lip- which only worked to tease his mind more as his subconscious worked overtime to find other ways to make her bite her lip. He shook his head and did his best to distract himself.

Why the Hell was he so horny all of a sudden?

“So, you… You’re different.” He nodded, looking a bit too intensely at her newly defined biceps, doing his best not to focus on her other new  _ enhanced _ features. Specifically, the two on her chest, though with the way his shirt lifted off of her torso ever so slightly from the roundness of her breasts to reveal a small slip of her blushing flesh and her shadowy, muscular abdomen also tempted his view. Peggy, still looking to the wall smiled at his professional and almost formal speech. She looked to him with a look of love, yet showed a slight amount of mild frustration at his sexual lack of knowledge.

“Oh, for Lord’s sake!” She sighed loudly, quickly moving her hands to the hem of the white shirt that covered her chest. In a swift, fluid movement she tugged it over her head and threw it onto the pillow to her left. Steve’s already-stiff half-erection sprang up fully formed when her hefty breasts bounced from their drop, her rosy pink nipples stood soft in her light areolas. The two organs were round and they appeared soft and squishy yet firm and fleshy. Steve almost stopped breathing when Peggy stood up, his eyes somehow glued to hers as his pants tightened unbearably.

“Can you just admit that I turned into any man’s sex idol?” She whispered, almost angrily, like she was angry with the serum had affected her body. Yet she smiled as if she had a secret that he would have to drag out of her. “Can you just admit that something that was already hard for me to deal with has gotten  _ even worse _ ?” 

“What do you mean, Peggy?” He asked sympathetically, ignoring his screaming erection as well as Peggy’s wildly varying tones. Her voice radiated anger and contempt, but her body language, smile and her hardening nipples threw waves of erotically desperate sexual energy.

“What do I mean? I mean they were already large enough! I don’t need them any bigger! It was hard enough to gain any kind of traction back when I wasn’t some kind of super-sex idol! I’ll hardly be taken seriously now, even in a casual setting- even  _ you _ couldn’t keep your eyes off of them!” She seethed with a glaring smile, turning her newly toned back to him. Her shoulder blades emerged further when she tried to censor her breasts from herself, enhancing the added curvature of her back. Her spine pressed against her back’s flesh and her hips widened before being cut off and leading under her jeans. Steve looked down at the floor and nodded subconsciously, despite her turned back to him. He couldn’t deny it. Her new stature was something devilishly alluring and attractive, and it was dragging even him down with thoughts he’d rather not have her know.

“Peggy, the world is different. Women, they aren’t really disadvantaged anymore- Hell, look at Nat or Wanda, they’re… Very attractive, and they’re some of our strongest-” He tried to reason, but Peggy cut him off as she turned back to him. Her face was running with enjoyment, her eyes already shining with arousal, desire peeking around from the edges of her eyelids.

“Yes, and they have the skills to compete! Hell, Wanda even has her magic-red streams-” She moved her hands around wildly for emphasis, her bare breasts waving and jiggling with her motions, though he managed to keep eye contact, if only simply to maintain their tense charade. “- thing! And what do I have, Steve? Hm? Strength? Speed? Something you don’t? No! I have no purpose in this time. All because you wanted  _ me _ , but couldn’t leave  _ your  _ friend! Cause you- Are a selfish, dickhole of a prick!” She shouted, accusedly pointing her finger at his chest while he remained painfully emotionless- yet underneath he was wildly aroused and excited. He looked to the floor as Peggy turned back to his bed and grabbed her shirt, slipping it back on over her chest that was flushed with carnal passion, arousal and emotion. She rolled it down her body and turned back to him, her horny-hardened nipples poking against the fabric.

“I’m leaving. Follow me, and you’ll never be found.” She swore with a hot smile, shunting him out of the way with her new strength. She reached for the door, but that’s when Steve finally felt his facade break down. He grabbed her wrist and threw her back to the bed, her new stature keeping her more sturdy and steady when she hit the comfy mattress. She had a shocked look on her face, but it was combined and complemented with a look of happy surprise and a thick jolt of arousal- so much she actually had to close her legs and rub her thighs together to try and pleasure herself.

“Something you should now; The serum increases your stamina. We’re gonna be here for a while if we are doing this,” Steve warned, removing his own shirt, revealing his carved pectorals, chiselled abdominals and his distracting hip bones that led teasingly below the beltline of his beige jeans. Peggy sucked in a breath through tight lips when she was reminded about Steve’s post-serum body. She loved Steve, and she loved him for who he was, but when his godlike body came into the picture, everything only got better. Steve smiled at her reaction before nodding to her and repeating, 

“You ready?” 

Peggy opened her legs and nodded, her puffy brown hair fluttering with her movements. Steve grinned alluringly before sauntering to his time-disoriented lover. As he came close, Peggy’s new strong hands undid his jeans’ button and the fly almost flew down as Steve’s dick squished against the dark grey fabric of his underwear. She almost choked on her breath when the organ pressed towards her. She looked up to his righteously blue eyes and developed a slightly surprised grin in the corner of her mouth and a very warm furnace below her own beltline.

“At ease, soldier!” She said excitedly.

**Three And A Half Hours Later**

Steve and Peggy laid on the bed, both breathing steadily, their strong bodies sheening with thick layers of sweat. They both stared at the ceiling in awe and afterglow, silent for what had to have been almost ten minutes now. They’d done it. For real. Not a fantasy. Not imagination. They’d really, truly had sex. Finally. Steve swallowed before whispering,

“For my first time, I don’t think I was that bad.” Peggy turned to him, keeping his comforter above her chest. Her thighs were just a little sore from the battering and the beating they had just received- her vagina felt an odd combination of burning pleasure, pounding achiness and saturated soaking, and it kept any words she thought she could formulate in the back of her throat. All she could do was nod as she struggled to think how their sex would have been had she  _ not _ had received any superpowers.

She shivered from… Well, she couldn’t tell if it was in aroused curiosity or petrified fear in the prospect.

“And it was my best.” She managed to choke out. Steve smiled as he turned over to her, meeting her eyes. They twinkled with amazement, love, adoration and wonder. She smiled sweetly before she did her best to sit up, groaning slightly. She allowed the comforter to fall off of her chest and rest around her waist. Her breasts were blushed and reddened, her nipples specifically red and almost sore after Steve’s rough lavishing of them both. Peggy cracked her neck and looked to Steve, running a hand down his chest and feeling the bumps and swells of his muscles. She flashed a toothy smile before looking to Steve lovingly.

“Really? Better than Stark?” Steve asked with a false smugness, causing Peggy to gasp with an equally fake tone of audacity. “Were you two ‘fondueing’ more than I thought?” Peggy ran her tongue over her bottom lip and laughed dryly.

“Captain Rogers, I will kill you if you mention that man ever again!” She shouted, despite the fact that she was laughing through it. Steve laughed alongside her as he roped her strong body against his own in a hug, privately relishing the feeling of her warm body against his own. He felt another spark of arousal light in his loins when he felt the warm, squishy side of her heavy breast rub against his solid pectoral. He couldn’t help as another erection began growing under the blanket, a specifically arousing twitch attracting Peggy’s eye.

“Stamina, Captain!” She cried seductively, smiling before flipping her hips over his, putting two layers of blanket between them now. She pulled the comforter towards her and Steve’s boner flipped before her eyes once again. Though, this time, she was simply going to help him, not quite ready to feel her legs go fully numb. She pushed herself down and lied her body on Steve’s legs and positioned her mouth near his twitching cock. She kissed the tip, attracting a heavy twitch from the veiny, thick organ. She smiled again, staring deep into Steve’s eyes as her tongue flicked out and covered the tip, taking in the small bead of bittersweet precum that had emerged from the small eye.

Steve sighed in awe as she licked her lips before she engulfed the head and swirled her tongue around the sensitive point, moaning as her mouth was filled. Steve threw his head back in pleasure.

**Tony’s Hospital**

Pepper walked into her husband’s hospital room, her sleeping daughter in the deep windowsill in the room. Happy Hogan was keeping a close eye on both Tony and Morgan, but Pepper turned back to the door and opened it, her purple suit waiting loyally just outside,

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., sentry mode.” She commanded tiredly. The Irish girl confirmed the command, and the suit raised its right arm, the repulsor as well as the two eyes igniting white. She returned back to her husband’s room, patting the family’s loyal bodyguard on the shoulder. He nodded softly, slowly allowing his eyes to close. She smiled before taking a seat next to her husband’s right side. In the past few weeks, his healing had come a long way.

They had bitten the bullet early on and amputated his arm almost immediately, but luckily it was only up to his elbow. Definitely not a worst-case scenario, and the minor burns on his neck and his face were healing quite well too. She sighed as she settled into her seat next to Tony, slowly allowing her eyes to close as well. The only sounds she could hear were the snoring of Happy, Morgan and Tony, the machines Tony was hooked up to and a quiet rerun episode of  _ Downton Abbey _ .

Pepper sighed when she let her head back in relaxation. The music on the show swelled as Pepper felt sleep overtake her. The room was quiet as they all slept. Morgan with a light blanket over her, Happy and Pepper within the crappy hospital chairs and Tony within his hospital bed. That was until Pepper felt a hand on her bare knee. She shot from her light sleep and gasped- waking both Morgan and Happy- looking to her leg in panic. A scratchy, dry voice choked, “Hey Pep. How long… Have… ” It was quiet, but Pepper’s world melted at the noise. She looked to her husband, and…

Tony’s eyes were cracked open, his right hand on her pale knee. His eyes were glazed over, but he was smiling through splintering lips. “Where’s…” He slowly turned his head when Morgan, tears streaming down her small face as she screamed, “DADDY!” She hugged his left side, and he used what was left of his arm to wrap it around her small frame. 

“Hey, Morgoona, How you doing, Pep?” He asked slowly, gently squeezing her knee. She couldn’t even move, her body entering a state of paralysis at the sight of her husband moving and waking. Happy stood from his seat behind Pepper and looked in sheer awe at Tony.

“Boss?” He asked, almost silently. Tony looked to him and smiled, nodding as much as his body would allow, still hugging a crying Morgan tightly. Happy laughed quietly and put his hand on Pepper’s shoulder, bringing her gaze to him.

“He’s awake.” Happy smiled as Pepper turned back to her husband. She leapt forward, hugging Tony with everything she had. She placed kiss after kiss on his lips as tears began flowing down her face- even Happy was crying a little bit. Morgan laughed and made a faux disgusted noise when Pepper held a kiss against her husband for what seemed like far too long for any human. She separated and sobbed happily against his dry mouth. She didn’t care that he needed a shower. She didn’t care he was missing a hand. She didn’t care that he tasted like days’ old vomit- she only cared about the fact that Tony- her Tony, the one that saved the world from the terrors of Thanos- was now awake and hugging his child and kissing his wife. Happy laughed to himself when Tony looked to him.

“Come on, Hap.”

“No, I can’t, boss.”

“Just one.”

Happy smiled and approached Tony, circling around from Pepper’s right to her left. He awkwardly hugged Tony’s side, at which he sighed. Tony released his daughter, throwing his arm around Happy’s neck and tugging him close. “Thank you, Happy. For watching them.” He whispered to Happy’s ear. He separated from the hug and nodded, tears cutting in the corners of his eyes. He stepped back and allowed Pepper her husband once again. She smiled when Tony smiled at her, his face tired but happy. Morgan curled up against her father, falling asleep again.

“How are they, Pep?” Tony asked quietly. Pepper’s smile fell a little. Tony looked concerned as Pepper responded. “They… Um,” she sucked her lips in and wiped her tears of joy and relief before finishing. “I have the set up in an updated warehouse in Flushing, but without you…” She paused again and broke their stare. Tony was silent, allowing her to find her words. “Laura… Killed herself.” Tony’s face was shocked when Pepper said that. 

“What?”

“Yeah. Nat’s… Shaken. God, some shit’s going down, Tony,” She whispered, not caring if Morgan heard her curse. “Steve… Steve brought someone through the tunnel- that Margeret Carter that worked with your father and she was… she was shot.” Tony’s face turned to one of a smile. “What?”

“He brought someone  _ back _ ? Like, back from another dimension?” Tony asked, a smile still decorating his face. Pepper nodded slowly, not catching her husband’s joke. “Yeah, no wonder she was shot: You mess with time, it messes back- that’s the  _ one _ rule we do know!” He laughed, his belly shaking with genuine laughter. He pinched the bridge of his in frustration and his laughter began to calm down. “Okay, so, where are the Barton kids?” He asked, trying to ignore his own laughter at Steve’s idiocy.

“No one knows. Lila, Cooper and Nate- we can’t find any of them. They went missing just after we got news of Laura-” She choked on her words, unable to finish her sentence. Tony patted her arm in consolation as she looked down.

“How was Peggy shot?” He asked. Pepper shook her head. 

“Someone attacked the warehouse.” Tony went silent- almost morbidly so. His gaze turned deadly silent as he asked,

“Who.” It wasn’t as much a question as it was a demand. A demand to know who exactly was attacking his team. Pepper shook her head, despite knowing what Steve told her. 

“No. I just got you back, you’re not going there- not yet,” Pepper argued. Tony had just woken up, and she was not allowing him to go back and fight, not in his condition. It would be bullshit if she gave him up and she was going to keep him safe until he was actually ready to fight- even then, he would only join back in the fight with her by his side.

“Pep, please. Who?” He asked, his voice quiet. Pepper shook her head again, tears streaming down her face at the tone of his voice. She wasn’t ready for him to seal himself inside the basement and work on thirty-plus suits, not so soon after waking up. She squeezed his hand desperately, not ready to lose him so fast.

“Pep…” He begged.

“Hydra.” She couldn’t take it. His voice was so quiet, so hurting that she couldn’t stop the words. She sighed and looked down, now silently despairing as she thought of her husband sealing himself in the basement to build suits. She felt a quiet, gentle sob hit her when she felt Tony rub her arm lovingly as he spoke four words she never thought he would ever say in her presence.

“Pep, I’m not going.” She looked up to him in a shocked confusion. “I can’t. I am in no condition, and even then... I got you guys to worry about. I’m not going back until you are.” He promised, rubbing her leg slowly. She looked to him with a slightly surprised face. “I’m done fighting without you, Pep. I need… Someone to keep  _ me _ in check, not all of us, but… You. I need you, Pepper..” He nodded before allowing his eyes to close. She smiled as he used her words from their talk back in the cabin. A new set of tears began down her face, but she smiled through the tears. 

"Pep… Come here…" Tony sighed scratchily. She opened her eyes and put her face close to Tony's. He smiled tiredly, because he loved her so much. She was his reason for fighting now. Before, he fought for redemption- redemption for his weapons, for his stupidity in the past, for his apathy towards those affected by his weapons. But over the last five years, he had realized that even as far back as 2012, he was no longer fighting for redemption. He was no longer fighting for himself. He was fighting for his family- both families- he was fighting to protect Pepper, Morgan and Happy, sure, but the two years when the Avengers had split, it caused a huge rift in his life. Rhodey's… incident, Steve's instinct to defend his best friend, the criminalization of his own friends- the time he had spent thinking about how he could've stopped everything that had gone wrong was more than was healthy. And it all fell back to one thing.

Pepper. If he had managed to keep them together in 2016 then she easily could have made him realize that he was making mistakes. Signing the Accords, the airport fight, Siberia… He wasn't blaming her- not by a long shot. He was blaming himself for being so unstable with every relationship he'd ever had. But now, they were married. They had a daughter. They had _a_ _family_. He needed to keep them safe. He needed to keep _everyone_ safe. He and Pepper were the face of stability, and he knew he would _kill_ to keep it that way, and he would especially kill to regain a similar sense of stability with the entirety of the Avengers.

Pepper stared into her husband's eyes and she knew he was thinking. She had seen his look so many times, she could picture it perfectly: His eyes unfocusing, his jaw tightening, his throat jumping with dry swallows. She smiled forlornly. She knew he needed rest, even after his two weeks of recovery. She smiled as she spoke.

"Go to sleep, Tony. Rest. I need you as you, because I know I'm going back." Her words broke his trance as he nodded and looked to her.

"Only if you rest too, Pep. Promise me,"

"I promise, Tony." He was still for a long moment before he nodded and slowly closed his eyes. Before she could move, though, he had thrown his arms around her neck and was kissing her ferociously, making up- more like making out- for his two weeks of missing out on her. Missing out on her lips, soft and gentle, but with a sense of fury and passion. Her eyes, steely and calm, yet possessing a brave, strong disposition. 

Pepper felt her chest swell as her husband kissed her, his mouth grappling onto hers in a desperate series of grabs and holds. She felt her pulse shoot up as she pressed her body onto his, making sure to be as gentle as her emotions allowed. Tony was rubbing her back up and down passionately as if he hadn't just woken from a coma. She felt his hand run into her butt, squeezing it ever so gently. She gasped into his mouth when he massaged the flesh, but her lungs were beginning to ache. She pulled away to catch her breath and stared into her husband's eyes.

Not now… Public… Rest…" She tried, her brain failing to make the words she wanted to say. Not here. Not now. Definitely not with Morgan and Happy in the room. Oh, but she wanted it. His touch was like an electrical wire spreading fire through her body- stinging, pulsing, burning  _ fire _ . She knew she that this was a problem- it had only been, what, two weeks, and she was  _ starved _ for his touch, for his kiss, for his words, for anything and every little thing he could give her.

"Yeah… Right… Not, not with Morgan." He sighed, allowing Pepper to sit down. His chest was rising and falling rapidly, as was hers. Pepper felt a weight on her chest- a weight of need. Not necessarily sexual, it was definitely more emotional because she could feel, physically feel, that she  _ needed _ him. For as much as he insisted that she was all  _ he _ had, it was almost truer for her. Without Tony, she could barely function- as the last few weeks had proven, she was a mess without him. Had Morgan not been with her over the last two weeks, Pepper knew she would not have been able to keep sane or any sort of collected.

She looked at Tony as he allowed his eyes to close, feeling her smile almost break her face. He was back- he was really back, he was  _ alive _ , and as the realization sunk in, Pepper felt more tears come to her face for what felt like the too-many-th time. She wiped them away as Morgan sighed in her sleep. Tony kissed the top of his daughter's head and smiled, sighing in peace alongside her. Without words, he motioned Pepper towards him with his hand. He lifted the hospital blanket and moved himself and his daughter to the side. Pepper silently laughed to herself tearfully before standing and carefully lying next to her husband, feeling his warmth exude into her cool body.

Maybe, together, they could keep this family safe. Keep it whole. Keep it together.

Keep it their own.

**To Be Continued...**


End file.
